


The Wolves of Beacon Hills

by LouisaHale



Series: Life and Times of a She-Wolf [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Adopted Children, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Adoption, Afterlife, Aftermath of Violence, Alive Laura Hale, Alpha Erica Reyes, Bullies, Child Abuse, Childhood Trauma, De-Aged Derek Hale, Death, Derek is a Good Alpha, Epilepsy, Established Pack, Everyone Is Alive, Female Homosexuality, Hale Family Feels, Hale Legacy, Hale Pack, Hale family History, Homophobic Language, Hunters, Interracial Relationship, Mentions of terminal illness, Next Generation, Paganism, Parent Death, Parent-Child Relationship, Post Hale Fire, Pregnancy, Safety, Sequel, Stilinski Family Feels, The Hale Fire, The Hale Pack - Freeform, The Pack is a big Family, Violence, chararter death, collection of oneshots, losing a parent, mention of miscarriage, mixed race families, paternal pressure, re-birth, rebuliding pack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-13 12:54:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 43,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2151483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouisaHale/pseuds/LouisaHale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part 4 of "Life and Times of a She-Wolf" - Series of oneshots surrounding the Hale Pack. Based on prompts from readers and scenes I had left over from the Epilogue of Alpha She-Wolf. Mostly Hale Pack/Hale Family fluff.</p><p>Will add tags/warnings as I add more chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pack List

**Life and Times of a She-Wolf**

**The Wolves of Beacon Hills**

**The Hale Pack***

**Alphas**

Derek Salvador Hale

Erica Regina Hale

**Lieutenants**

Cora Amelia Hale

Malia Tate

Allison McCall-Lahey

Rosalyn Perez

**Elders**

Peter Hale

Sarah Martin-Hale

Melissa McCall

John Stilinksi

Laura Marcela Hale

**Betas**

Scott McCall

 ~~?~~ Bazyli Gemin“ _Stiles”_   Stilinski

Vernon Boyd

Isaac Lahey

Daniel “Danny” Mahealani

Jackson Whittemore

Aiden Jones

Ethan Jones

**Non-Wolf Pack Members**

Lydia Martin

Braeden Deaton

Marin Morell

Kira Yukimura

**Underage Pack Members**

Raul Alexander Hale

Diego Benjamin Hale

Juliet McCall-Stilinski

Connor McCall-Stilinski

Andromeda Lyn Hale

Diana Claudia Stilinski-Hale

Micah McCall-Lahey

Melissa McCall-Lahey

Aubrey Talia Hale

Avery Hale

Amory Hale

Alan Morell-Hale

Ava Morell-Hale

Derek Julian Hale

Marcus Boyd

Bazyli Gemin “Baby Stiles” Stilinski-Hale

* * *

***Footnote: Members of The Hale Pack as of chapter 4 of this fic...so spoilers up until then. More pack members will be added as “The Wolves of Beacon Hills” continues.**


	2. Knocked Up I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erica's journey through her first pregnancy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine
> 
> Check out my tumblr (hailhaleswriting) Or visit allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf for bonus info and updates on this fic and others.

**Life and Times of a She-Wolf**

**The Wolves of Beacon Hills**

**Knocked Up Part I: Andromeda Lyn Hale**

* * *

Erica had just miscarried and she was having mixed emotions. She could not bring herself to speak to Derek about her feelings because her feelings confused her. On one hand, she was relieved. She was not ready to be someone's mother; she barely knew who she was as a person, an alpha and mate, she didn't need to add another role to fail at right now.

On the other hand, she had just lost a  _child_. Her heart was broken and she wanted to cry. There had been potential for a little baby girl or boy that was half Derek and half her and their life was gone before it even started. It was devastating, and the heartache was only made worse when she felt Derek's grief and the rest of the packs sadness.

She had cried herself to sleep in confusion.

_Erica became aware again standing in a foggy field. She heard a tiny growl followed by happy barks and noticed a little black wolf leaping toward her. The wolf shifted into a little girl (no older than six) while she was running toward Erica. She was beautiful; tan skin, long black curly hair tied back in a complicated braid, and the most enchanting hazel eyes. Her smile was big, her laugh reminded Erica of her mother's laugh and she ran into Erica's arms liked she had done it a million times before._

_Erica caught the child but the impact sent them tumbling onto the grass. She rolled around and laughed with the child until she finally let the child pin her._

_"Hi Mommy."_

_"Hi Baby."_

_"I'm sorry you're sad. The ancestors say it just wasn't my time yet." The girl said, her little hand reaching for Erica's and smiling back. "But I really want to meet you and Daddy."_

_"It's not fair." Erica sighed._

_"Grandmother Talia said you and Daddy must find yourselves first. That you aren't ready to be my Mommy and Daddy right now."_

_"I think she's right Baby."_

_"Well hurry up Mommy." The child demanded._

_Erica laughed and kissed the girl on the forehead. "I will do my best."_

_The dream began to fade and her daughter smiled. "I love you mommy."_

_"I love you too Baby."_

Erica woke up in tears but confidant that she was travelling down the right path. She would have time to be a mother one day. But right now she had to figure out how to be herself.

* * *

Erica tried not to think much about her daughter the black wolf. The dream had been disconcerting because it had felt so real. It hurt to think about her, knowing that she was just a figment of her imagination created from her own grief.

She began thinking about her again after she died and was brought back to life. Derek's ancestors called where they were when they died the  _in-betwe_ en. It was a space between life and death; a ghostly waiting area. It was there she saw a mini-pack of wolf pups that avoided the ancestors, herself and Derek because they weren't allowed to interact with them. Derek's parents had explained to her that the pups in the  _in-between_  represented souls of the next generation of the Hale Family. There had been a black wolf pup that looked exactly like the pup from her grief filled dream and when a voice responded to Derek Sr's scolding, Erica wanted to cry. The voice sounded exactly like the girl in her dream.

Her daughter was real. She was not a hallucination. She was real and waiting for the right time to be born.

Erica was almost disappointed when she woke up and the pregnancy test the hospital gave came out negative. Before the Hale ancestors resurrected her, the little black wolf had lunged for her yelling a plea into the wind.

_I wanna come too!_

Erica had hoped her daughter had been successful and had come back with her, but she hadn't. The timing wasn't right just yet.

* * *

Towards the end of their wedding reception Derek had told her why people had been smelling her all day. She had been giving off pheromones that only pregnant she-wolves gave off. She was finally going to have her pup. Once a she-wolf began to give off the scent of pregnancy there was no longer a chance of miscarriage. Unless she wanted to abort the pregnancy she was going to be a mom in eight months.

There was no way in hell she was aborting this pregnancy. She was ready to be a mom. There was no doubt in her mind. She knew who she was and she knew what she wanted now.

She wanted her pack, her husband, and her child.

Derek had been concerned about her silence after he told her but she gave him a big smile to reassure him. She then insisted that they wait to talk about the pregnancy until after their honeymoon. She wanted to spend a week with her husband without having to worry about the extra responsibility they were about to undertake. They needed this honeymoon as a couple.

The only problem with their plan is that when they arrived back home after a week in Hawaii the whole pack wanted to discuss the pregnancy. Derek and Erica didn't get a chance to get out of the car before their pack swarmed them and started shouting in a not so orderly fashion.

_"How was Hawaii?"_

_"Who cares how their fuck-cation went Kira! I want to know about my future niece or nephew!"_

_"Laura is right! Tell us more about little Cora."_

_"They are not naming it after you Core! They are naming it after me. Malia Reyes Hale!"_

_"If they don't name their kid Derica, they are dead to me. Cora and I are leaving the pack and never coming back."_

_"Thank goodness, we'll finally be rid of Stilinski."_

_"How are you taking the news Erica?"_

_"We need to get her to a doctor, just to check that this pregnancy is going as well as it should be."_

_"Dude you all were right. That smell makes me want to impregnate people. Ethan, which female pack member do you want to have my love-child?"_

_"Danny, go back to being quiet. You act like Stiles when you're horny."_

_"Mama, what does horny mean?"_

_"When do we start putting the nursery together?"_

_"Who are the godparents?"_

_"Is it a boy or a girl?"_

_"She's a month along, they don't know yet."_

_"Why do you guys not look excited? Get excited!"_

_"When the new baby comes will you all still love Connor, Diego, Raul and me?"_

The sentence from Juliet stopped them all in their tracks. Everyone stopped questioning Derek and Erica on their baby and started cuddling, kissing and reassuring the pups the pack had already. After Raul, Diego, Juliet and Connor were assured they would be loved no matter how many babies were born into the pack, everyone looked like they wanted to continue their interrogation of Derek and Erica.

Thankfully Derek put a stop to that. "Guys, calm down. Its still early, we have time to figure things out. All we know is that we are very happy about this pregnancy. Lets go celebrate and relax at the lake."

At Derek's suggestion everyone dispersed to get ready for an afternoon at the lake.

"Thanks, husband." Erica smiled hugging him. "I love you."

"It was my pleasure wife. I love you too."

"Derek, promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"That we will never in a million years name our child Derica."

He laughed. "Deal."

* * *

Erica entered the sheriff's station late that day. The morning sickness phase of pregnancy had finally passed. Erica and her husband spent the morning celebrating a whole week free of vomit and her screaming obscenities at him. They celebrated by giving into her most recent pregnancy symptom; being horny all the time.

She plopped down at her desk and glared at her partner who had a big grin on his face. "Reyes got laid…Reyes got laid…" He sang.

Erica growled at him and snatched the donut he was holding from his hands.

"Hey!"

"My last name is Hale." She sighed, "And you don't smell like you got lucky this weekend. A lesser person would think you are jealous."

"Of course I'm jealous. I have needs." Bill sighed dramatically. "It doesn't help that my partner is a badass pregnant alpha, who is three months along and looks like some sort of fertility goddess who could kill you with a look if she so pleased."

Erica rolled her eyes at him, and put her feet up on the desk. "Charming."

"Oh, you're just grumpy because you are on desk duty. Any other day you think I'm hysterical."

"I never think you're hysterical." She groaned, "I'm so over these human rules. Maybe it's dangerous for pregnant humans to be in the field but she-wolves are resilient."

Bill grinned and stood up. "Well, we have to play by human rules. Now if you'll excuse me my temporary partner and I have a squad car that's calling our name." he said heading for the door.

She glared at him until he and his temporary partner were out of sight. At least she didn't have to spend the day in a police cruiser with that clown…who was she kidding she missed being in the field! She should have never told the sheriff she was pregnant!

Okay, so he already knew and he had let her work as a cop until she started to show. So really if anyone was to blame for this it was her baby for growing so fast, and she couldn't be mad at her child for growing at a healthy rate for a wolf pup. This was only her first day of desk duty…she could do this for six months.

* * *

"Eri…what the fuck was that?" Derek mumbled sleepily.

"Shut up Der, I'm sleeping." She groaned holding him tighter. Yeah, it was difficult being the big spoon with her baby belly, but Derek and her both liked being the big spoon so they switched every night since they started sharing a bed. She knew that her belly would allow her to do this for much longer so she was savoring her last few nights as a big spoon while she had them.

"No, you're not. You are poking me in the back." He said getting up and turning on the lights.

Erica groaned and checked the clock. "Derek it's three a.m., I don't need your hallucinations right now. Some of us work…"

"Yeah, we both work. That's my point. Stop poking me, woman."

"Liar." She said grabbing a pillow and throwing it at him before standing up to go to the bathroom. As soon as the morning sickness stopped, the need to pee constantly set in and Erica was not a fan.

She got halfway to the bathroom before she grabbed her stomach and let out a gasp. "Holy crap."

Derek rushed to her side with a look of pure concern on his face.

"Husband, is this what you felt?" She said bringing his hands to her stomach.

He nodded, and a grin broke out on his face.

"She's kicking you dummy. You felt her first kicks."

His grin turned into a full smile and he picked her up and twirled her around before setting her back down. "Wait…she? I thought Mel didn't tell you the gender? She wanted us to be surprised."

Erica sighed; she didn't know how to explain her dream and her experience in the in-between to him. "I just know Der. I know it's a girl."

Derek looked skeptical, but kissed her forehead and nodded his head. "I guess that will narrow down my name list."

Erica glared at him. "We just agreed last night that you would handle first names for our children and I would do their middle names…you're telling me you already have a list?"

He simply shrugged and headed back to bed. "You can look at it while you're in the bathroom… its in my briefcase."

Erica glared at her husband and went towards the closet to rifle through her husband's briefcase.

She'd done this a hundred times before and she found the same old stuff; boring company reports…more boring company reports… memos galore…a note from Slutty Assistant about a lunch meeting tomorrow with the partners…and Derek's personal folder that held his legal pad and calendar.

Erica ripped up the note from the assistant and walked to the bathroom to throw it in the trash. She then used the bathroom.

After she was done she sat at the vanity seat and added the lunch meeting with the partners into Derek's calendar before flipping through his notebook looking for his list of baby names.

_Baby Names:_

_Derek_

_Erik_

_Talia_

_Amory_

_Etta_

_Nadine_

_Avery_

_Lyn_

_Jonah_

_Julian_

_Aubrey_

_Emery_

_Andromeda_

_Kendrick_

One name stood out on the list. Once she read it she knew it was the baby in her belly's name, and when she paired it with her mother's first name her child kicked again.

She closed the folder and placed it back in the briefcase before climbing back into bed. She curled up into her husband and whispered their child's name to him; seeking his approval. "Andromeda Lyn Hale."

"It's perfect." He said turning around and giving her one of his heart-stopping smiles.

"She's going to be perfect." Erica said turning around and pulling her husbands arms around her.

"But it's your night to be the big spoon." He said puzzled.

"Derek, don't ruin the moment. You've been dealing with my hormonal mood changes for four months. Just roll with it."

He laughed and rubbed her stomach. "Yes dear."

* * *

Did people forget she was an alpha werewolf? Or did people think her ability to kill them with little effort went away as her belly got bigger?

She couldn't run simple errands without townspeople of every species coming up to her and patting her belly. At least most of them had enough sense to show her a bit of respect by calling her Alpha Hale or Deputy Hale. She was getting irritated. She just wanted to be able to walk around town without being accosted, having her belly felt up and being questioned about all things baby.

Ever since the whole town knew of the supernatural, the Hale Pack had gotten more respect. They were the biggest family/group of supernaturals in Beacon Hills and the town's protectors. Now the all whispers and gossip about them were positive, unlike when she first joined and the whole town thought they were a cult. So, it made sense that her baby would be big, exciting news. Andromeda would be the next leader of the Hale Pack if all went according to plan, it would fall to her to lead the pack in protecting the town. Her impending birth was big news in Beacon Hills. Erica just wished that they could have a bit of respect for the current alpha of the Hale Pack while paying their respects to the future alpha that was currently tap-dancing on her bladder.

"I'll go get the car, sit down on that bench okay?" Rosalyn told her. She had taken Rosalyn shopping with her this fine Saturday morning because she was the only pack member that didn't seem to have baby fever. Yeah, Rose was protective of Erica and her child, but she didn't want to smother her with safety; she didn't try to tell Erica what she could and could not do; and she was interested in carrying conversations that didn't involve the massive baby to do list she had yet to touch.

Erica nodded and made her way to the bench. She sighed breathing in the fresh air and smell of strangers.

She had been a jerk to her mate and pack lately and they kicked her out of the den, saying she could take one pack mate for company. The rest of the pack was working on the nursery, baby proofing the den and finishing that huge list of things that they needed to do before the baby came. They were a good pack. She was a bad alpha.

Great, now she was crying.

She was seven months along in her pregnancy and she wanted her daughter to be born. Everything hurt, she was huge, kind people on the street interested in her life annoyed her, her loving husband annoyed her, her in laws annoyed her, her pack annoyed her…everything was getting on her last nerve. In the past few months she had gotten written up four times for sucker punching a fellow officer (Bill deserved it, he could have just kept his trap shut and not commented on her weight gain); she had lost control of her shift three times (once she was in public…that was bad); and had cussed out three innocent bystanders on the street. Pregnancy did not agree with her.

Her pack was lovely. They took her mood swings in stride and gave as good as they got; they did not take the verbal abuse lying down, which helped her feel less like crap when she was lucid. They helped her when she needed it, and did puppy piles with no complaint when her mood swung to feeling needy…even if it was the middle of the night. They deserved a better alpha than her.

Rosalyn pulled up to the curb and started to load their bags into the trunk. "Alpha if your crying and doing the same 'I'm a bad alpha' bullcrap routine I'm tattling on you."

"But I am. I've been horrible."

Rosalyn sighed and walked over to Erica, kneeling down in front of Erica so she could look her in the eyes. "Not all the time, and we expected it. You're getting better the longer you get used to it; no one blames you with all those alpha instincts and baby hormones living in your body…to be honest we were expecting worse. Peter said Talia was much worse while she was pregnant with Laura. You are doing great. Just a few more months left and you'll have a beautiful baby girl." She smiled, holding her hand out to help Erica up. "Look on the bright side… if you decide to get pregnant again it'll be a walk in the park compared to this."

Erica rolled her eyes and allowed rose to help her into the car. Another baby? She was going insane and her first hadn't even been born yet. "Slow down Rose, your getting way ahead of yourself."

Rosalyn laughed. "No I'm not. There is already a bet going on how long it takes after your first child is born for you to get knocked up again."

Erica growled. She loved her pack but they were ridiculous.

* * *

"I am never having sex again." Erica said, while trying to catch her breath after the latest contraction.

"Most women say that sweetie." Melissa said from her place at the foot of the bed. "They never stick with it. Now, focus and get ready to push. You are fully dilated."

Erica groaned. They had opted for a birth in the poolhouse's "wolf hospital" instead of the regular hospital. She wanted to do this at home, and trusted Melissa, Marin and Braeden completely to get her and her child through the whole process. If she were human and could have pain meds, she probably would have went to the hospital but she couldn't. She much rather be around the people she loved than strangers she didn't know enough to trust.

Derek had been with her the whole time. Through all fifteen hours so far. He was now pushing her up so he could situate himself behind her and help her through the birth. Marin, Braden and Melissa were the only other people present in the room. She didn't want the whole pack seeing this but she could hear them outside on the playground playing with the pups while they waited. It comforted her to know they were nearby.

Erica was exhausted. Her first contraction happened at eight last night and it had been nothing but exhausting since then. This baby was taking her sweet time.

"You can do this Erica. Just a few pushes and you can rest." Derek said, rubbing her back.

"If you think that I'm going to sleep while you bond with our baby without me think again Derek." Erica growled. "I'm going through labor, I've been carting her around fro nine months, I get to cuddle with her first. End of stor-OH HOLY HELL I NEED TO PUSH."

Derek began leeching pain from her as Melissa and Marin coached her through the process of giving birth and Braeden stood nearby ready to clean off and examine the baby. The whole thing went quicker than the hours long first phase of labor but it was far more painful than she imagined it could be. When all was said and done, she felt her daughter enter the world with a loud wail.

Erica and Derek watched in awe as Braeden and Marin looked over the baby and cleaned her off, making sure she was healthy. While they were doing that Erica felt the link with her daughter form in the pack link. She gasped at the feelings she began to feel from the little girl. The link her and Derek felt with Andi was different than the link she had with the rest of the pack. This was unbreakable, she didn't feel this because she was Andi's alpha, she felt this because she was her mother and she never felt something so amazing in her life.

Erica and Derek were in tears when Braeden finally brought their daughter to them. Once Andromeda was in Erica's arms, Derek wrapped his arms around them protectively.

Andromeda was looking around perplexed, as if offended that she had to be in this new world. Erica laughed through her tears. "Hi Andromeda. I'm your Mommy and this guy behind me is your Daddy."

"We love you so much." Derek said grabbing one of Andi's tiny fists with one of his fingers

The baby seemed unimpressed and Erica felt the exhaustion her daughter felt as the girl closed her eyes. "What a good idea. Mommy needs sleep too. Derek take her, but stay close, I don't think I could sleep if I cant hear your heartbeats."

Marin pulled a chair up to the bed and Melissa rolled a hospital issue baby crib to them. Everyone left and Derek settled on the chair, taking Andromeda in his arms and looking at her in awe. "She's stunning."

"Well she takes after us." Erica sighed lying down on the bed. "I love you Derek."

"I love you too." Her husband said, his eyes not leaving their sleeping daughter.

Erica sighed and began drifting off to sleep. "I've waited so long for you Andromeda Lyn. I've wanted you since I first saw you in that dream. I cant wait to get to know you." she whispered.

"Erica, what dream are you talking about?"

"I'll tell you later Der. I'm tired. Watch over our angel while I'm asleep."

* * *

Andromeda was four when she first shifted into a wolf. Until this day Andi had only ever used her beta form when she was upset or on the full moon. Erica knew it was coming; all women born into the Hale family could shift into an actual wolf. She just didn't expect it for a few years. Laura first shifted at ten, Cora at seven and Malia at eight…Andromeda was way ahead of schedule. Seeing the wolf pup floored Erica because she was the same pup Erica saw in a dream five years ago, and her child (in human form) was looking more and more like that six-year-old girl each day.

"Huh." Derek said watching the tiny black wolf pup yip and run around the living room. "Well, she is your daughter Erica."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Erica growled as turned away from watching Andi run circles around a two-year-old Aubrey to glare at her husband.

"I just mean that you did everything ahead of schedule when you became a wolf. You got hold of your abilities much faster than expected. Its not surprising that the same control was passed onto our children…" Derek said eyes widening as he observed the new sight. "Oh god."

"Me too!" Erica heard Aubrey say, and Erica turned around in time watch in horror as her two year old finished her shift into a tiny white wolf pup who then joined her sister in running around the living room.

"Oh god." Erica sighed before turning to her husband to yell at him. "TWO YEARS OLD! TWO! SHE CAN BARELY FORM COMPLETE SENTENCES SHE HAS NO BUSINESS SHIFTING AT TWO!"

Derek raised his eyebrow at her. "Its not my fault our daughters are powerful." He said before addressing the now whimpering pups, "Girls, Mommy isn't mad at you, she's just scared that you shifted so soon. Why don't you run outside and wait for Daddy?"

The pups yipped and ran towards the back door.

"Sorry for yelling, they are just so young." Erica said pulling Derek in for a hug.

He kissed her and hugged her back. "They'll be fine. I'll teach them how to shift, and if I need help Laura, Cora or Malia will be happy to help."

They held each other's hand and made their way to the back door. Derek began stripping as soon as they were on the back porch. "You know there was a time when you blushed at me getting undressed." He told her before he shifted into his hulk-wolf form.

"Yeah, well it takes a lot more than you naked to make me blush Derek."

Derek growled, as if he was saying that he was talking her statement as a challenge. Erica rolled her eyes and walked ahead of him towards the field where her daughters were play fighting each other in wolf form. Erica sat down on the grass and Derek ran past her.

The girls began to bark and chased Derek around the training fields for a bit. Erica knew that Hale-wolves could communicate with each other telepathically and hoped that Derek was giving them advice on how to shift back, not just playing with them. It wasn't long before all three wolves stopped running around and started inching towards her. Erica laughed as Derek showed the girls how to crouch down, and he stepped back to watch their daughters attack. Simultaneously the girls sprang up from their crouch and began running towards her.

Erica smiled and let the girls tackle her to the ground and kiss her face. In seconds the wolf kisses turned into human kisses and Erica opened her eyes to see her giggling daughters smiling down at her.

"Hi Mommy." Andromeda said.

"Hi Baby."

"Hi Mommy." Aubrey imitated.

"Hi Baby."

Erica sat up and cradled both of her children in her arms. "Mommy loves you and is proud of you."

They both giggled. "Daddy said that we should stay here, he is coming back after he shifts and gets us all knew clothes." Andi informed, as soon as Erica noticed her husband was missing from the field.

"Mommy?" Aubrey said.

"Yes?"

"Are you mad?"

"Nope. Just surprised."

"Told you Duh!" Aubrey giggled. Erica bit back a laugh at how Aubrey pronounced Andromeda's name. The child could say 'Andi' she just loved the reaction she got from the entire pack when she said 'Duh' instead.

"You thought I was mad you shifted Andromeda?"

Andi nodded and cuddled closer to Erica. "You were upset when I shifted and then you yelled when Aubrey shifted. Then you yelled at Daddy. But Daddy told us it because you are worried about us being safe. He made us promise not to shift unless you or him were there to watch over us."

"That's a good rule. I was only upset because I don't want my puppies hurt. I love you both very much and don't want you ever to be hurt." Erica said.

"We love you too Mommy!" Andi said.

Erica held her girls close until Derek came back carrying a change of clothes for each daughter. They both grabbed a child and helped her into her clothes. Once dressed her children ran towards the playground. It was a Saturday afternoon and almost time for training. All the kids not old enough to train (or not werewolf) would play on the playground while the rest of the pack trained or watched over them.

Erica sighed as she watched her girls. "Andi is going to have to start training soon."

Derek sat down next to her. "She's growing up to fast. So is Aubrey."

"Before you know it they'll be dating."

Derek growled at the suggestion, and Erica laughed.

"Mommy! Daddy Come push us!" Andi yelled from the swing set.

Erica and Derek helped each other up and made their way to the playground. Derek ended up having Aubrey hold on to him while he swung on the swing set (because she was to tiny to be on by herself) as Erica pushed her eldest. She loved her family, she loved her pack and she loved her life.

She couldn't imagine how it could get any better.

"Higher Mommy!" Andi giggled. "We have to beat Aubrey and Daddy!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt(s): I combined three requests into one chapter- a) cerys132 on tumblr asked for a chapter on the birth of Derek/Erica's first child…and snippets of the pregnancy itself b) zerohero4376 on asked for Derek/Erica pregnancy/family fluff and c)DCT Won't Forget You Now on asked about the packs reaction to pregnancy
> 
> I am still accepting prompts for the "Life and Times of A She-Wolf" universe.


	3. The Hale Curse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Laura Hale grew up a cursed crown princess, so when her death came at the hands of her uncle she wasn’t as surprised as you’d think she’d be. What surprised her was her re-birth and her curse breaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine
> 
> Check out my tumblr (hailhaleswriting) Or visit allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf for bonus info and updates on this fic and others.

* * *

 

**Life and Times of a She-Wolf**

**The Wolves of Beacon Hills**

**The Hale Curse**

* * *

At the time of Laura Marcela Hale’s birth, she was second in line to an important throne. Her grandmother was Alpha of the northern most wolf pack in California.

The pack had many names in the wolf community...The Beacon County Pack, The Triskele Pack, The American Nematon’s Guardians…but most people called them The Hale Pack once Grandmother married Grandfather and took his last name. Their pack was very important in the supernatural community because of the territory they guarded. A nematon drew many creatures and not all of them had the best of intentions… and the one that sat in the middle of the Beacon Hills Preserve was the only one in North America. Because of this, Beacon County was home to many supernatural beings and Laura’s family had the job of protecting the innocent inhabitants of their territory and punishing those who used their powers for evil.

Laura was not aware of it at the time, but the day she turned one-year old her life changed drastically. Her grandparents had died, and her mother was now Alpha…a queen within her own right, and the pack had descended into turmoil. Everyone had been spread out over the county living on their own but the day the Alpha and her mate died the pack all moved back home. The Hale Family became distrustful of those around them; hunters had moved back to Beacon County; the pack had to protect itself. Which meant Laura was under constant guard.

When she was six, she asked Uncle Petey why she wasn’t allowed to go to school, play with children that weren’t her “cousins” or why she wasn’t allowed to be alone. He explained to her that she was no mere princess; she was the next Alpha of the pack…the heir-apparent. When her mother died she would lead them all. He explained that bad people lived in the town, and the easiest way for the bad people to hurt the pack was to hurt the Alpha’s only heir. A wolf pack needed reassurance of leadership to control their shifts; they needed to know that they would always have a leader.

That day she prayed for a sibling. If she had a sibling she wouldn’t need a constant guard. She could go to school with her cousins, she could make friends that weren’t pack…She could be someone else besides her mother’s heir.

She loved Mommy and Daddy, and she knew they loved her…but they were the Alpha and Alpha-mate; their first duty was to the pack, not to her. They both hated that she had to be hidden away, and did their best to take her places like parks and museums when they could, just so she could get off of pack land. But she wanted that freedom all the time.

When Laura was seven, her little grumpy brother was born. Derek was a Mommy-hog but he was pretty cool when he was sleeping and weeks after he was born Mommy and Daddy took her to enroll her in school.

Finally she wasn’t simply “Laura, Heir of Talia”. She was Laura Hale newest member of Miss Samson’s second grade class.

* * *

* * *

Exactly ten years after her life changed for good, Laura’s world was shattered.

It was her eleventh birthday, and her Dad was supposed to pick her up from school early. They were going to go to the mall and he was going to buy her ice cream and help her pick a dress for the Daddy-Daughter dance at school next week. She and Dad had gone to the dance every year since second grade and they always had the best time. She felt like she was getting too old to go to these, but Dad loved it still and she didn’t have the heart to tell him she wanted to break tradition.

During lunchtime she thought she heard her Mom roar in pain, and got scared. Mom was powerful and no one could hurt her. She got worried for Mom, and was preparing to ask Dad what happened when he picked her up in an hour.

After lunch, the class sang happy birthday to her and they ate the cupcakes her mom and great-aunt made. She was laughing and they were all settling into their desks, getting ready to go back to work when Uncle Petey walked into the classroom and handed her teacher a note.

“Laura, let’s go grab your things…” he said. Laura shrugged and gathered her books, and as she left the room she could have sworn she smelt tears from her teacher.

“Petey, Dad was supposed to pick me up.” She said when they made it to the car, “Did something happen to Mom?” she asked worriedly.

* * *

The next few days were a blur to Laura. The pack mourned the loss of her father, and her mother’s cousins. They had been killed by hunters.

Her Abuelo and Abuela had come up from Mexico for the funeral, and told Laura stories of how they came to adopt her Dad, and the silly things he used to do when he was a pup. It hurt to hear the stories, but also helped with the loss to hear about her Dad as a kid. Mom hadn’t been able to tell stories, she had been too sad, and had gotten even more sad when she found out she was pregnant again.

“You must tell these stories to Der-Bear and the baby, Laura.” Abuelo said, tickling her little brother trying to get a smile. “He is very young, one day he might not remember your father and this new baby won’t know him at all. We do not see you children often enough to tell the stories so his memory lives on...”

“It is not fair.” Laura said. “How will we go on without Daddy?”

“It will not be easy my dear one.” Abuela said, “But you have the heart of a warrior, so much like my son. It will not be easy for us to live without him either Laura, but he lives on in you, Junior and in the new baby. That brings me comfort, knowing that he will be watching from the afterlife with pride as his children grow and thrive.”

That comforted Laura too. Their religion taught them that death was not really the end. Mother Moon would always care for the souls of her children as long as they were good at the core of their being. Dad was a good person; Mother Moon would take care of him. It was not the end.

* * *

A few nights later, Laura hopped out of the car and ran towards the family mausoleum where the cremated remains of every deceased relative of her family were put to rest since the official founding of Beacon Hills. She sat herself in front of the place where her father’s remains rested.

_Derek Diaz Hale_

_Father. Husband. Son. Friend._

“Hi Daddy.” She began, “I just came back from the Daddy-Daughter dance. I know how much you liked that, so I asked Abuelo to take me one last time. I’m wearing the dress you picked out for me last year but it was too big then. I know it’s weird, but for a minute I thought you were there with us. Abuelo told a silly joke and I heard you laugh… I miss you Daddy. And I think I always will.”

Laura stood up and kissed the stone that held his name before leaving the mausoleum and heading towards the house. Her abuelo had already gone inside and her mother stood in the open door looking at her.

“Laura, you look beautiful.”

“Thanks mom.”

Her mother moved out of the way so Laura could enter, and then began to walk up the stairs.

“Mom?” Laura said after shutting and locking the door.

“Yes darling?”

“If we can’t kill the hunters, why don’t we just leave? We aren’t that large of a pack these days, we could blend in elsewhere.”

Her mother sighed and lifted her up, carrying her to the living room. She hadn’t been held by her mother like this was since Derek was born. It felt nice. Mom grabbed an old book off the shelf and settled them both on the floor, setting the book on the coffee table and looking Laura in the eye.

“Laura, it is our duty to protect this territory and its inhabitants. And a few narrow-minded humans will not stop us from our duty. Our ancestors gave their lives for this town and the vulnerable individuals in it. It is as much a part of our birthright as our ability to fully shift is. It’s who our family is; Protectors, Guardians. No matter our status in the pack…Alpha, Beta or Omega, we guard those weaker than ourselves with our lives. It’s our identity, our Mother Moon-given gift. It is so much bigger than vengeance. I want nothing more than to tear apart everyone responsible for your father’s death, but my primary duty is to the pack and the town.” Her mother said, “Most pack books and Alpha Journals are in the family vault, but I like to keep some around the house to remind me why I uphold the family legacy. After my parents were killed and I became Alpha I craved vengeance but this book and the others like it reminded me why vengeance for the sake of vengeance was the wrong path. This is our family history Laura, this is our legacy. You and I are the most recent in a long line of great guardians and we are responsible for the safety of all the souls under our protection and leadership.”

Laura opened the book and began reading. It was a journal of an ancestor she had never heard of before this day. She read as her ancestor wrote of feeling as though he was pulled out west by an invisible string, dreamed of a shining beacon calling him far away from the civilization he grew up in. He wrote of him and a small band of supernaturals making the journey westward. When he arrived, he struggled with the decision to claim territory so close to a nematon, he did not want to burden his descendents with the responsibility that would come with such important territory. Then he wrote of the small tribe of natives he had met, their leader had claimed him as her mate. She was an alpha as well and this was her land, her people had protected the nematon since humans and weres settled on the continent. Her ancestor spoke of the importance of protecting this land, the Great Tree and the people of the settlement from those who wished to use The Great Tree for evil means. That he hoped that his descendents would understand…

Over the next few years, in between Alpha lessons with her mother and her duties as a big sister (Derek needed to be teased regularly or his ego got too big…that little turd) Laura would read more Journals from different ancestors. They all struggled with their duty to the people under their protection and being able to exact vengeance when tragedy struck. They all struggled with the unbearable weight of the noble alphas before them. They all came to the conclusion eventually that even if they weren’t alphas they would protect the territory, the people in it and the nematon with their lives.

_“Because no matter what I am…Alpha, Beta or Omega... I have a duty to use my gifts to protect those who cannot do so for themselves.”_ Her thrice-great grandfather wrote, _“It is in my blood, my being, to protect. I don’t know if I could ignore this duty even if I tried. And if somehow I was able to ignore the family legacy…how could I face my ancestors in the afterlife after abandoning the territory that every last one of them, no matter their status, gave their all for?.”_

He was right. Laura loved this town and would protect it with her life. As an Alpha, as a Beta or as an Omega … Laura Hale would protect the residents of Beacon County from those who would harm them.

* * *

* * *

Marin Deaton was a bitch.

Laura never had the _pleasure_ of meeting her until today. Mom was best friends with Marin’s older brother, and he was her Emissary. Ava Deaton, Marins mother, had been Emissary when Laura’s grandmother was alpha, but stepped down when she died because every alpha needed a new Emissary. So Laura was familiar with the Deatons. Marin was a year younger than Laura, years ahead of Laura in school (because she was basically a genius) and spent six months each year in France with her father. Then she went to college at sixteen. So the first time they met was at Marin’s Welcome Home/Happy Graduation from Grad School Party.

Laura had been jittery at the time. Her twenty-first birthday had just passed and she was starting to think that tragedy would strike every ten years for her family, so she was waiting for the something big and devastating to happen. When she got a whiff of Marin, and her wolf screamed “mate”, Laura had been so relived and excited, (maybe she wasn’t cursed after all!) she simply ran over to her and attacked her with her tongue. Not the best first impression.

Mom and Ms Deaton were excited. Finally, the bond between their families would be sealed by marriage.

“Isn’t it lovely that they are mates? How exciting! The Alpha and her Emissary-Mate! Surely that’s a first.” Ms. Deaton said.

“Mother, I’ve told you. I don’t want to follow in your footsteps. I want to choose my own pack and my own path! I don’t care about destiny.”

“You can’t expect Braeden to be Laura’s Emissary; she’s too young to connect with her.” Alan said, “And how are you going to be an Emissary to another pack when your mate is heir to the Hale Pack?”

“She’s not my mate.” Marin hissed. “I’m not a dyke.”

Laura ran away in tears so she didn’t hear the rest of the argument the Deaton family had that led to Marin leaving town and changing her last name to her father’s last name. Being rejected by a mate was a painful blow to a born wolf. Laura could feel her unconsummated, weak bond with the Druid but knew it would never become anything. How could she say such a hateful word? How could she not feel their bond? Laura was devastated.

Unfortunately, her twenty-first year had more devastation waiting for her.

* * *

 

Three nights after Marin’s party, she was driving home with her siblings. Cora decided that they needed to have a sibling night, because “you are both acting super weird”. Derek had been acting odd and jumpy since the whole Paige incident (understandable) and Laura had spent the last few days crying her eyes out in her locked room. Cora had dragged them out the door earlier that evening decreeing that is was sibling time and they would have pizza in town and see a movie.

Halfway through the movie they heard howls and ran from the theater. Laura collapsed in the parking lot and began to feel intense agony for minutes on end until finally, as quickly as she felt the pack links, all the links all snapped and all that was left was a two strong links (her siblings) and one fading link (Petey).

She had stood up and looked at her siblings through a red haze. Their blue and yellow eyes shined back at her in the darkness. “Get in the car. We’ll cry in the car.” She told them.

They had all cried in the backseat. Derek and Cora knew that Laura could only have red eyes if Mom had died. And Laura told them that she felt the deaths of all the pack. They were all that was left of the Hale Pack.

When they saw the fire trucks speed by, they decided to go see what happened.

* * *

 

After placing Uncle Peter in assisted care, sorting out the estate of the dead, placing them in the mausoleum and gaining custody of her siblings, Laura made her way to the Deaton home.

“Kate Argent seduced Derek. He told me. And I smelt Argents at the house. I can’t prove anything.” She told them. “Derek’s broken, Cora is filled with anger and hatred…I don’t know if I can raise them here. I don’t want to abandon my family’s duty, but I’m their alpha and guardian…I have to do what’s best for them.”

“Laura, you do what you must for your brother and sister. One day you will come back and rebuild the Hale Pack.” Ms. Deaton said. “Who knows maybe my daughter will wise up by then and she will help you?”

Laura snorted. “Ms. Deaton, with all due respect…”

“Call me Ava darling, you’re an Alpha now.”

“Ava, I don’t have hopes for Marin and I. But returning and rebuilding? I will be up for that as soon as I feel like Derek and Cora can handle living here again. I’ve been accepted to grad school at NYU for business. We will be moving there. Mom’s friend Satomi has offered to have some of her betas come up here and patrol every few weeks.”

“Laura, your teaching degree…” Ava said sadly.

“…Is useless when I’m expected to take my Mom’s place at Hale Holdings. The Board has agreed to conference me in on board meetings and appoint a temporary CEO…but they say that Hale Holdings without a Hale is worthless and stock could plummet, the family fortune could be lost. I’ll come back every few months to check in with The Council and check on the land while I attend obligatory board meetings.”

“If you ever need anything, just let us know.” Alan told her, “The Council is more than capable of protecting the town for a few years. And Satomi is a trustworthy alpha; she will help look after the territory and will not make moves to claim it as her own while you are away. The territory will be fine. Your ancestors will be proud you are taking care of your packs needs above all else, including your wants.”

Laura nodded and said her goodbyes and prepared to move her siblings cross-country.

* * *

* * *

Every few months, she would leave New York for California. Each visit she would check in on her Uncle Petey, say Hi to the Deatons (and after Ava passed, visit her grave), make sure the family property hadn’t been messed with, stop by the mausoleum, check in with The Council and then make her way to Hale Holdings to do her CEO thing. The week after her thirty-first birthday was one of those visits.

She always thought her family cursed, she just never thought that the curse would claim her. She had hoped that a few dead animals with the symbol for vengeance was the worst the curse would bring this year. Derek and Cora needed her…they were all they had. But as soon as she saw Uncle Petey in the woods she knew that she and her Uncle would be the next victims of the Hale Curse.

Peter’s mind was gone, he wasn’t really her uncle at that point, he was focused on vengeance and she was standing in his way.

As he dealt the death blow, she could help but think it ironic. Peter had been the first person to explain to her what her place and the pack was in simple terms a six year old to understand; A Crowned-Princess that would one day hold great power and be a great Queen. The person who taught her about her power was now killing her to steal her power.

She wanted to laugh, she was no great Queen. She was mediocre. She had little interest in anything but healing her siblings and working on getting them in a mental state so they could move back to the ancestral home.

Would they feel her death? Would Cora forgive her? Would Derek be able to step up and do what he had to? Could Derek kill Peter, protect the town from him? Would her baby brother be the one to rebuild the pack?

In that moment after death she saw the grand plan. Laura was never meant to be the alpha that restored the pack, Derek was. She was Queen-Reagent, keeping watch over the pack until the boy king was ready to lead. She was the one that taught Derek, as Mom had taught her. Laura had been the one that taught him how to be a good wolf, a good person, a good leader, and guide him through his trouble teens. Her baby brother was already working at the Hale Holdings offices in New York and was a fair businessman. He was all grown up now. He and Core didn’t need her anymore, they had each other, and they have the teachings she passed on to them guide them. They were ready.

She had no regrets or ill feelings about her lot in life. She was proud to have been Laura Hale. So she watched her brother get revenge for her death and him and Core build the pack and pack home they always dreamed of.

She was so proud of those little turds.

* * *

* * *

So dying sucked… living in the in-between was lonely… seeing her dead relatives when they visited was great…and looking down on the people she loved hurt and felt good all at the same time. Laura could deal with all that though. The one thing Laura could not deal with like a champ? Being re-born.

First of all…re-birth hurt one thousand times more than death.

Second of all Fuckin Marin Morell had joined the pack as Emissary to Erica (her baby brother’s Mate). Seeing that beautiful abandoner again…well it was like the first time all over again except this time the bond was stronger… apparently Marin felt Laura die and regretted how she treated her and now that she was back, she wanted to give it a whirl.

Third of all she was so confused on how old she was…was she still thirty-one or was she supposed to count the two years she wasn’t so much alive in her age?

Fourth and finally, why did people find it so odd that she punched Uncle Petey and the immediately gave him a big ass hug? She was a complicated person.

Erica and Derek had made her Elder, and honestly Laura _owned_ the position. Her aunt and uncle and the McCall-Stilinskis were Elders as well but they didn’t have the experience of running a pack that Laura had. And the packs Seconds and Thirds were competent, but still needed some guidance (they were just kids). So Laura became super-Elder in the weeks after her re-birth while Der-Bear and Blondie were playing sleeping beauty. If it’s one thing her life taught her it was how to handle a crisis, so she knew what the pack needed before they did.

“Do you miss being an alpha?” a voice asked from the door way to her new room. The Main house of Wolf’s Run (she still couldn’t believe Derek used her exact blueprints) had been rebuilt after the latest fire and this was the first night they had all moved back. She loved Uncle Petey and his family but she was super glad she wasn’t sleeping on her cousin Diego’s bunk bed anymore (the kid snored worse than Cora). She had her own room now, a home in the new pack house. For the first time since re-birth she felt settled.

So of course Marin had to sneak in and stand creepily in her doorway, and ask super personal questions while looking hella beautiful.

“No. I can still look out for the pack without alpha-hood. Derek and his child bride were born to be alphas, I was simply holding Derek’s place while he became who he needed to be. My family has guarded this town since way before its founding Marin, we have always been protectors no matter our pack rank.”

Marin entered the room and sat down on the seat by the window. “The thing that always pissed me off about you was you blind acceptance of your duty. You would think that it be your childish personality or the fact you attacked me with your mouth the first time we met in person. But it isn’t. It’s the fact that from such a young age you have been accepting of what your role is to be and according to my mother you never rebelled. The blind devotion to the family line was never something that came easy to me, and whenever my mother and I fought she’d say. _‘Laura Hale accepts her duty without complaining why can’t you…_ ’.”

“That must have really sucked Marin. Finding out the girl that was used against you in agreement was actually your mate.” Laura rolled her eyes. “I never saw a point in complaining about the path Mother Moon had for me. At times it was devastating but every moment lead to this one we have now. Everyone’s safe, my siblings are with the people they love, and hopefully the family curse is broken.”

“Curse?”

“Uncle Peter was heavy on the fairytale stuff when I was a kid. He used the Royalty metaphor to explain the alpha-dom and family to me. It stuck, I use it a lot. The fact that tragedy struck the pack every ten years since my birth felt pretty curse-like to me. I think my death and re-birth was the end of it. But you can’t be too sure.”

“That’s ridiculous Laura. You are not cursed.”

Laura glared at the beautiful jerk that was her mate. “You’re right Marin life for the Hale Pack has been nothing but sunshine and roses for the past thirty-three years. Silly me, I must have imagined it.”

Marin stood up and walked towards Laura, stopping in front of her.“I’m not saying that life was easy Laur, I’m saying that maybe this was all written. This all needed to happen. I’m saying that a lot of horrible things happened for us to get to this moment. Hell it took you dying to realize what an idiot I had been and it took my niece mating with Rosalyn to realize that female-female mate bonds were not something to be afraid of. I’m saying if that crap hadn’t happened I’d still be that stubborn fool that missed her own mother’s funeral, and spent a decade ignoring her mate bond. I’m not that person anymore.”

And if Marin’s little speech didn’t mind-fuck her, then finding herself pinned to the bed under Marin a moment later, the Druid’s lips attacking hers, sure did the trick.

The throat clearing caused the kissing to stop, which was not something Laura was happy with at all. Cora, Malia and their mates were standing in the doorway with mischievous smiles on their faces (smiles that would have made Laura proud if she were not on the receiving end of them).

“We have a policy in the Main House. It’s a closed door policy.” Cora said, “No one wants to see their sibling or cousin get it on with their mate.”

“I actually prefer the open door policy, but it makes my dearest love uncomfortable.” Stiles said.

“That’s cause you are a pervert.” Malia said as Vernon smacked Stiles on the back of the head.

Stiles let out an indignant squawk and walked away.

“I’m happy the two of you are working things out.” Vernon said before leaving the doorway to enter his and Malia’s room.

“One time Derek forgot to shut the door. I still have nightmares about what I saw as I walked by that room.” Cora said.

Malia grabbed Cora’s hand in one of her own and the door knob in the other. She dragged Cora away while shutting the door.

Finally, some privacy.

“So are we mates now?”

“Yes,” Marin smiled.

“Like Facebook Official together right?” Laura asked.

Marin rolled her eyes and kissed Laura again.

* * *

* * *

Laura was forty-one (yes, she was counting the dead years) and was not afraid of tragedy falling on her family. Marin had made her believe that this was what was supposed to happen. That if the bad never happened, the pack wouldn’t have formed, and their two little angels wouldn’t be alive and in her arms.

Well, they weren’t in her arms right now. And maybe angels was not the most appropriate term, they here too much like her. They were toddling around Laura and Marin’s bedroom. Ava was trying to chase her older (by a month) brother Alan, because the Druid-toddler had magic-ed the Wolf-toddler’s favorite stuffed animal out of her hands and into his own.

Laura had carried Ava and Marin had carried Alan. They had gotten pregnant by the same donor (who knew those crafty druids had their own sperm banks?), so the kids would be blood siblings too. They decided to name the kids after Marin’s deceased mother and brother. Derek had snatched Mom and Dad’s names up for his kids (the turd) and Braeden and her mate wanted to adopt if they had kids and gave them the go ahead to honor the Deaton side of the family. Which Laura was more than cool with, Ava and Alan Deaton were not only great Emissaries to her mother and grandmother but they had been so helpful to her while she was Alpha.

The Morell-Hale children were mischievous little shits and she loved them immensely; even when they got their sticky little fingers on her student’s homework.

Marin was still at work; she had quit being a school counselor a few years ago and had opened up her own counseling practice. Laura was a high school teacher and they were currently on spring break so she had all the time in the world to spend time with her kids.

“Mommy.” Ava pouted

“Alan, that’s enough taunting your sister for today.”

The little boy sighed and magic-ed the bear back into Ava’s hands. Ava clapped her hands and Alan crossed his arms. Laura picked the boy up and cuddled him.

She worried about him. Ava was a wolf pup in a pack filled with wolf-pups. Alan was the only Druid child in the pack. The situation was all too similar to Laura’s own childhood. Alan felt isolated from his pack and already felt the weight of the responsibility he would one day hold as the pack Emissary.

Her son cuddled closer into her, “Mommy. I wanna be a wolf.”

“No you don’t. You just want to be like everyone else.” She sighed. “Don’t you like being like Mama and Bray?”

“Yes. But Hales are wolves.”

“No, a Hale can be any species. It doesn’t matter. I had cousins that were human when I was growing up. They were still family. Being a wolf isn’t everything Alan. You’re just as special and precious to me and Mama as Ava is.”

The little boy smiled and hugged her tighter. “Love you.” He sighed.

“Love you too my sweet mini-minion.”

Ava came toddling over towards her, “Mommy? Tease Uncle Derek with me?”

Alan clapped his hands, and laughed.

Laura picked up Ava and made her way out of the door with a child on each hip. “Oh, my dear mini-minions you are so my children… what should we make fun of today?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt(s): none
> 
> I am still accepting prompts for the "Life and Times of A She-Wolf" universe.
> 
> Note: Sorry for the late-ness (see ff profile for excuses), hope you enjoyed the chapter! I hope to have more up soon.


	4. The Safest Place on Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wolf’s Run was many things to the Hale Pack, but above all it was the place where they all felt safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine  
> Check out my tumblr (hailhaleswriting) Or visit allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf for bonus info and updates on this fic and others.

**Life and Times of a She-Wolf**

**The Wolves of Beacon Hills**

**The Safest Place on Earth**

* * *

Derek Hale didn’t really remember whose idea it was to write it all down and sketch out the blueprints to the place they had been talking about since the fire. Maybe it was Cora, she had taken that basic architecture class in high school…or maybe it was him trying to put it all down on paper to see if their designs for a new pack-home had any flaws in security…but it was probably Laura that suggested it. She would have wanted to make the reality that they were going back one day easier for her sibling-betas to bear and putting it all down on paper and taking about how they wanted their new home to look was the best way to get Derek and Cora used to the idea.

Laura had always made it clear that their stint in New York City was temporary, that once he and Cora had emotionally recovered and graduated college, they would go back to their ancestral home and rebuild the once mighty Hale Pack. She had a duty as Alpha of the Land, and Protector of The Nematon, to return. She never wanted to leave their home behind, and only did it because she was a great alpha and sister. Laura returned to Beacon Hills every few months to check on the land and their uncle, and when she came back it was always with more ideas about their future home.

It became a family tradition. Instead of spending the full moon running around the Preserve like they had when they were kids, they would spend it locked in their apartment drawing up plans for their future home. The wall around the entire Hale property was Laura’s first idea.

_“The problem with the old property is that the ancestors thought a wall around would make us look isolated. But I’m more concerned with controlling who is coming on the property and leaving. If danger is approaching then we will see it coming first.”_

From there the ideas would keep flowing; security cameras, a network of escape tunnels, an underground bunker, mountain ash imbedded into the brick wall they would build, one large den for the Hale family and smaller homes that would be built to accommodate the growing pack… Most of them were Laura’s idea, some were Cora’s…Derek didn’t have many to contribute. Initially he didn’t feel like he had the right, but after some intensive therapy and grief counseling, he came to realize that what Kate did wasn’t his fault by then the plans were basically complete and his only contribution was the escape tunnel in the basement theater room. Laura thought it unnecessary as there were others planned for the Den, but Derek insisted. He had lost one pack because they were trapped in the basement, he would not lose another to a basement.

The name was Laura’s stupid idea. She came up with it a few months before she died. It was one of the last decisions about their new home the three siblings made together. Derek and Cora found it ridiculous, but when their big sister had her heart set on something it was going to happen.

_“Wolf’s Run! That’s what we’ll call it!”_ she had giggled in a manic way that only his big sister could manage without looking like a lunatic.

He and Cora threw pillows at Laura as she explained how perfect the name was for the property; how it felt right, it was perfect for the family. Laura had cackled as she wrote the name in the middle of the sketch (in the empty space that represented the training field). Cora tried to knock the pen out of her hands but was unsuccessful. There it was in red pen and his big sisters loopy handwriting, the name of their future home.

After Laura’s body was found in the woods of Beacon Hills, and he was cleared as a suspect in her murder he called Cora, telling her the news. Days after he killed their uncle and avenged his sister he picked Cora up at the train station and they put Laura’s body to rest in the family mausoleum. They ended up burying Peter in the ruins of their old home; unable to bury someone that killed their own blood next to the one he murdered.

They grieved for both Laura and Peter that weekend. The two of them crying and howling in agony on their family property. He and Core were the last of the Hales and that fact along with the loss of Laura and Peter brought them immense grief. He wasn’t worried about the Argents, or about his uncle’s beta…he was too busy lost in his emotions.

On Monday morning they pulled themselves together and he drove Cora to the nearest airport. They had lives to get to; he had alpha powers, powers that belonged to his sister and his mother before him, to adjust to. And Cora had a semester in college to finish before she transferred to Hale College and she had to pack up all their things from the New York apartment.

Before she boarded the plane, Cora pulled the rolled up blueprints from her backpack and handed them to him. _“It’s time to rebuild big brother.”_ She said kissing his cheek and walking away.

She was right. It was way past time. Their lands had been left vulnerable because Derek and Cora couldn’t stand living in the place where their family died and Laura had been trying to be the best alpha she could be to them. Evil had taken root in their uncle and he knew it was only a matter of time before others came to take advantage of the vulnerability.

So in the months that followed he and Cora rebuilt. With help from his mom’s old friend Alan and Alan’s sister Marin, they were able to put mountain ash in the walls surrounding the property and alter the minds of the construction workers so they didn’t remember the secret rooms in the house or the underground tunnels. With the help of Cora, Scott and Stiles he started recruiting pack members to join; lost broken souls like he and his sister were, people that needed a family.

When construction had finished at the end of that summer, Derek went to have the sign for the estate made. Cora came with him. She threw a fit when she saw he was going to have it named _Laura’s Run_ after their fallen sister and made him change the name back.

“That wasn’t the plan Derek; we stick with the plan, with what she wanted…what would Laura say if she knew you changed the name?”

“Something along the lines of _‘don’t be such a turd baby brother…’_. But I want to honor her memory. She sacrificed so much for us that whole damned estate was her idea Core.”

“Yeah, it was. But we honor her by being the best we can be, so when she looks down on us, her and mom can gloat to dad on the fantastic job they each did in raising us…Mommy and Laurie loved to gloat…”

Derek smiled. _Wolf’s Run_ it was. He would make his big sister, his parents and his ancestors proud, he would build his pack and keep them and the community safe like all the alphas in his family had done since the beginning.

The pack loved the name and on move in day Cora told the story of the night Laura came up with the name while they were all unpacking. His pack laughed at the story and consoled him and Cora when the memory of their sister made them cry. That night when his sister and betas were settling down in their rooms (or in Stilinski’s case sneaking into Cora’s room when he thought Derek wasn’t looking) he went to the control room and locked the gates, sighing in relief when screen said ‘ **Alarms Engaged. Gates Secured**.’

His new family was safe. Their new home was the safest place for them to be.

* * *

_Run._

_Keep Running._

_Don’t slow down._

_Survive._

She pulled along her little brother as she tried her hardest to keep up with Raul and Diego. It felt like they had been running for days. Weeks? Months? Years? She always had trouble with time, and it had gotten more difficult to count the days since Mommy died and she received the family Gift.

Juliet knew they would be safe one day, but that did not stop her from being terrified of the bad people chasing them. The fact that one day soon they would be safe, loved and protected at Wolf’s Run did nothing to ease her fear of the hunters but it did help her find the strength to keep running and help her baby brother keep up.

_Wolf’s Run_ is the safest place of earth, filled to the brim with powerful people, who were family even though they all weren’t blood related and people who would love her and protect her from harm with their lives.

It was going to be okay… One day she, her brother and their friends would be safe.

Her blood ran cold as she heard the approach of the hunters’ boots and smelt the wolfsbane and gunpowder. They were closing in.

“Julie, Connor, Come on!” Raul ordered pushing Diego along before slowing down for them.

“Go hide!” She yelled, resigned as she saw the men come toward them.

_Where is the lady who saves us? Rosie, where are you?_

She was beginning to think her visions were wrong when the hunters fired at Connor. Raul picked her brother up and he and Diego began to run away from the bullets when a she-wolf in full shift came running and howled for help.

“Run Puppies!” Rosie yelled.

Juliet ran, following Raul, Diego and Connor, and couldn’t help but sigh in relief once they all hid in a small cavern.

They heard the howls of a pack and the retreat of the hunters once they were in the cavern.

Connor may be bleeding, they may be frightened, and they were all tired and hungry but Juliet reassured her brother, Raul and Diego that everything would be fine.

They would be safe soon.

They would be home.

* * *

Lydia Martin was not afraid of anything. She lived with her pack, and their home was quite secure. She had no reason to be afraid. Sure, she had seen things in life but, she was safe and every time she had been in a dangerous situation that she could not help herself, her friends, mate, mother, or step sister were there to protect her.

Unfortunately, the men in her family were not so lucky to have had people there to save them from the trauma life threw at them. Peter, her step father, had been trapped in a fire and lost his mind, having to live with the fact he had killed people (his niece included), bit Scott and tormented Lydia; Her little brothers had lost their birth parents to hunters and had been on the run from hunters themselves for god knows how long before being adopted by Mom and Peter. Everyone in the pack had a past full of sad, hurtful things, she was among the lucky few that had lived life with little trauma until encountering the supernatural. But perhaps the most heartbreaking past (in her opinion) was that of her mate and his brother.

Aiden and Ethan Jones were abandoned at a Los Angeles fire station when they were newborns. They were given surnames by social services and taken in by a local family, that happened to be apart of the Jackson Pack of wolves.

The Jackson Pack was more a street gang than a family, and the members of the pack treated the weak twin boys like omegas; never forgetting to remind the boys that they were useless pups that even their parents didn’t want. It’s not clear how bad the abuse was, Danny, Lydia and countless pack members had tried to get the twins to speak of it but they refused. Lydia did know enough to know that no one had shown these boys kindness when they were growing up, until Rosalyn Perez came to live with the pack.

The time after Rose ran away from the Jackson Alpha and his cousin, was the only time with the Jackson Pack the twins would talk about. They had seen kindness, they had known affection, and had decided that they deserved more than being treated like omegas in their own pack. They refused to take the abuse and began to run away. Social services always brought them back, and they were beat horribly for trying to leave but the twins had said that that bit of freedom was well worth the beatings.

It was these acts of defiance that drew the Alpha Pack to the twins. Deucalion, Ennis and Kali met the boys during one of their escapes and befriended them. Soon Duke was offering the twins a chance to join the Alpha Pack, have a family. The boys were desperate to get out from under the Jackson Alpha’s thumb, so stealing his life and becoming alphas was not a problem for them…but the second part, the killing of the entire Jackson Pack, of all the men women and children in it gave them pause. But the Alpha Pack had been able to convince then to do it. Lydia isn’t clear on the how, but she knows enough about adolescent psychology and about new alpha power to know that it wouldn’t take much affection from the Alpha Pack to get the twins thinking murder was their only option and that once two teenaged boys had killed the alpha, the new power would thrive upon their old traumas by the pack and demand vengeance.

They were then declared wards of Deucalion, and lived for years with a different kind of abuse. Forced to be killers of whoever displeased the Alpha Pack and beaten for any disobedience. And they took it because for every kill they had to carry out, for every beating they took they received affection from their three pack mates. That affection meant the world to the loved-starved Jones twins.

But then they came to Beacon Hills, met their mates and lost their alpha-powers. Now they were adjusting to life in a real pack was like. A pack filled with true affection and love, a pack where the alpha didn’t beat you daily and you didn’t have to fight or kill for your meals. Ethan and Aiden had trouble adjusting to this new life but were willing to try for Danny and Lydia.

Aiden wakes up screaming most nights reliving either his childhood or that night he and Ethan slaughtered the Jackson Pack. He’d cry for his brother, and when they lived with Ethan and Danny, Ethan would come running into their room.

_"We’re safe now Aiden. No one is ever going to hurt us again.”_ Ethan would whisper as he and Aiden rocked back and forth and cried.

Those nights Lydia would crawl in bed with Danny and they’d both stare helplessly at the door, neither sure on how to help their mate. Danny once made a joke that the two of them slept together more than they slept with their mates. They both knew that the only person that understood their mate was his brother, and on some level they were okay with it. Co-dependency wasn’t healthy, but if it kept the man they loved sane, they would live with it.

When Derek built more houses on _Wolf’s Run_ , so each mated pair (or triad) could have their own home, the twins, Danny and Lydia had protested. No one knew how to deal with the twins’ very deep psychological pain and the thought of separating them was unthinkable. But Derek made the case that they needed their own space, they needed to get used to it…Lydia and Danny wouldn’t be going to the same grad schools the four of them would have to split up one day.

They tried it for a week and failed miserably. It wasn’t just the twins that had grown dependent on the four of them living together Lydia and Danny had as well. Most nights the four of them would end up curled up together in Ethan and Danny’s room. Derek gave up and remodeled one of the houses so it had two master suites and a guest room, and the four Joneses moved in together.

The funny thing was that after they moved back in together, Ethan and Aiden spent more nights in their own beds with their mates, and had fewer nightmares. They felt safer, knowing that the pack was so accepting of what they needed, and didn’t treat them as omegas because of their ‘weakness’ (Aiden’s term). Their alphas had gone out of their way to accommodate them. They finally began to understand that they had a true home at _Wolf’s Run_.

No harm would come to the Jones boys ever again. Even if their home wasn’t ridiculously secure, danger would have to get through their over-protective alphas, packmates and Lydias before it could breathe the same air as Aiden and Ethan.

No one was laying a violent finger on those boys ever again. She simply wouldn’t allow it.

_“Don’t be scared, you live in the safest place on earth.”_ She’d whisper each night before falling asleep. It relaxed Aiden and soothed whatever fear she had as well.

* * *

Andromeda Hale didn’t fully understand what danger meant until that summer.

She had lived her whole life in Beacon Hills, surrounded by people who cared for her dearly or respected her parents’ position as Alphas and her role as their heir. Danger was not something she truly understood.

She understood it mentally… the idea of danger…of packmates and self in peril. But the understanding came from stories of her parents and ancestors; she had never been in danger herself. She had never truly experienced fear. She had been afraid before, had a bad nightmare once or twice, got scared by Uncle Stiles’ sick obsession with making Halloween extra creepy, but that fear was nothing compared to what happened that summer.

Mom and Dad needed to go see the Diaz Pack in Mexico, and instead of leaving her and Aubrey behind, they went with them. It was the summer before her eighth birthday, and they hadn’t had an outing just the four of them since DJ was born. Mom decided that DJ needed to learn that there were people who would care for him besides her so he was left at home. Andi and Aubrey had been so excited to go to Mexico with their parents. They visited the Diaz compound first, and then Mom took them to a resort to spend time together, while Dad did alpha stuff and spent time with his Dad’s family.

They were supposed to meet again when the alpha stuff was over, Dad was supposed to join them on the beach after a few days. Andi knew something was wrong when he didn’t call to tell them goodnight. And when Juliet called Mom instead and Mom started talking in hushed growls to Aunt Cora and Aunt Laura she knew something bad had happened.

Her Daddy was missing. There had been an attack at the Diaz compound.

Over the next month she had experienced fear. Her Dad was missing; then once they found him he had been de-aged to look as old as Diego and he didn’t recognize Mom or Andi, Aubrey and DJ; then a were-jaguar woman and her berserkers attacked again and Andi came close to watching her parents, aunts and many Diazes die.

She experienced danger and fear in that month and she hated it.

Once Dad was back to normal, and the were-jaguar was defeated they went home, and as soon as the car drove through the gates of her home Andi began to cry. She never wanted to be that scared again, if Dad hadn’t been able to shift into a Hale Wolf like her aunts, they all would have died. So far away from home and pack, so far away from the safety of home, she would have been orphaned just because her parents decided to take a vacation, separate and let their guards down away from home.

She was glad they were alive, but she was so angry at them.

So angry that, she had shifted into wolf form and jumped out of the moving car window, running towards the woods.

She heard Mom yelling after her, and Aunt Laura saying to give her some time. Aunt Laura understood her best. Being the heir was never easy, but Andi had been okay with all the attention and coddling as long as her pack was safe. Now that she had experienced how not-safe life could be she didn’t know how to cope. What was the point of being a part of a powerful pack if they were only ever safe in their tiny town and kept their guard up? Was that anyway to live life?

She made it to the ruins of the old Hale House, the place where Dad grew up and was reminded that even staying in town and keeping your guard up didn’t guarantee safety. A fire had nearly wiped out the pack when her grandmother was the Alpha, and she was a strong, careful alpha. A second fire had nearly killed her parents before she was born and Mom and Dad were the best alphas ever.

She had come too close to watching a berserker rip off Mom’s head just days ago. Dad had barely been able to save her in time, because the were-jaguar woman had knocked him out, and he had been close to death in his young body. Andi could only watch helplessly as her aunts and the Diaz pack fought for their lives and her Mom was all alone. She would have jumped in and helped but she was too busy hiding Aubrey and DJ from harm. If the berserkers saw them she and her siblings would be dead for sure and no one would be able to save them.

_”You did the right thing Andi. I’m proud of you.”_ Said her Dad’s voice in her mind. She turned around and looked at the new wolf approaching her. It was weird seeing her father in this wolf form, she had been so used to his monster-wolf form. But now he was a true Hale Wolf, something males in her family typically were not powerful enough to achieve.

_“Go away. I’m mad.”_ She said, making a run for it in the opposite direction.

Her father chased her down easily enough, only confirming that he and mom always let Andi and her siblings win when they played chase. _“No, you are afraid. You’re allowed to be afraid, Angel. It was a scary situation.”_ He said head butting her.

_“Our kind are never safe are we?”_ She sighed.

“ _The world is full of danger for people like us. Why do you think we build and fortify our dens like we do? So our loved ones have at least one safe place to go in the entire world.”_

_“the Diaz den wasn’t safe.”_

_“Some Dens are safer than others. The Diaz Pack hasn’t updated their security since my father was a child.” “_

_You and Mom update the system each month…”_

_“Exactly. Angel, I’m not saying that you will never again know fear or experience danger. I can’t guarantee that. I can tell you that this pack has worked very hard to make sure Wolf’s Run is the safest place on earth for a member of The Hale Pack.”_

Andi nodded. She knew he was right. \

_“Now would you mind coming with me back to the Den? Your mother was very shaken up by the situation and is demanding the entire pack sleep in the theater room together tonight. I think it’s a good idea, I’m feeling uneasy myself. I need to know you are all okay.”_

Andi began running towards the house. _“I’m going to beat you Daddy!”_

_"Will you?”_ He said as he began to pass her.

“No fair! You’re a grown up! You’re supposed to let me win!” She yelled as they arrived at the den and she shifted back.

Her father smiled when he shifted to human, and grabbed for the clothing her mother had left on the porch. “You always complain that we let you win.”

Andi huffed and got dressed. They made their way inside together and saw they whole pack was cuddled together on the couches and fighting over which movie to watch before dinner.

“Elsa!” her cousin Ava said. As Dad settled in next to her Mom and DJ, and Andi settled in between Diana and Aubrey

“No! Not another princess movie, anything but a princess movie...” Raul whined.

“Grow up, you start college soon.” Diego told him, “You know the rules, nothing higher than PG while the younger kids are awake.”

“There’s tons of PG movies that are not Frozen.” Juliet said, “If I hear ‘Let It Go’ one more time today…”

Diana snorted, elbowing Andi in the side. Andi watched as her cousin pressed play on a tiny remote and the house filled with the song Juliet was just talking about.

All the adults (and Juliet) started begging for the music to end, while Micah, Missy and Diana started laughing hysterically until Uncle Stiles picked the remote from his daughters hand and turned off the music.

“I have taken this from you how many times in the last few weeks?”

“Thirty.” Diana answered, wiping the tears that laughter caused from her eyes.

“and how did you manage to steal it back?”

“No comment.” Diana said with an ‘innocent smile’.

Snorts and laughter filled the room at the pained look on her Uncle’s face. Apparently Diana was some sort of horribly perfect mix of her parents that made one nearly unstoppable prankster that never left any physical proof behind that she had done something wrong. Andi was praying she grew out of it before she was Diana’s alpha.

After her Uncle and cousin ended their staring contest, a movie was finally chosen and everyone settled in for cuddles. Andi crawled under a blanket and pulled her little sister close. She loved pack time like this, everyone in one place, cuddled up and content. It made her feel secure.

It made her feel that maybe her home, _Wolf’s Run_ , really was the safest place on earth.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt(s): none  
> I am still accepting prompts for the "Life and Times of A She-Wolf" universe.


	5. Wonder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana Claudia Stilinski-Hale was named after two super heroes; Wonder Woman and her Grandma. Today was one of the rare days that her superhero status demanded she take action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine
> 
> Check out my tumblr (hailhaleswriting) Or visit allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf for bonus info and updates on this fic and others.
> 
> I am still accepting prompts for the "Life and Times of A She-Wolf" universe.

**Life and Times of a She-Wolf**

**The Wolves of Beacon Hills**

**Wonder**

* * *

Diana Claudia Stilinski-Hale was named after two super heroes; Wonder Woman and her Grandma (her Daddy's Mommy). It was rare that she'd let a day go by where she used this as her excuse not to do things when she found tasks beneath her superhero status, but today was not one of those days. Today was one of the rare days that her superhero status demanded she take action.

"…There comes a time in everyone's lives when they chose their path. Today was my first step on the path of greatness. Today I took a stand for all victims of bullies everywhere by punching that jerk Bobby in the face and kicking him in his boy place. His reign of terror in this school is through! If you and the teachers will not end his tyranny then I must!"

Principal Greenburg did not agree with her assessment of the situation. He simply leaned against the door to his office and rolled his eyes. "Well, let us wait for your parents to get here and see what they see about that." He said before walking back into his office leaving her in the waiting area outside with only his secretary to keep her company.

"Mrs. J, ole buddy, ole pal…" Diana said, paying no mind to the retreating principal and hopping over to the grinning woman who had been friends with her Grandma Talia when she was alive…therefore had a soft spot in her Fae heart for the Hale kids. "Was it really necessary to involve my parents in this mess? They have a bunch on their plate…Mom has the company to run because we all know uncle Der-Bear is incompetent at that, Daddy dearest is busy doctoring or whatever he does at that hospital and they both are super-duper not-humorous since baby bro entered the terrible threes."

"You should have thought of that before you punched a Bobby Wu with all your werewolf strength and then kicked him." She said shaking her head. "You are lucky he is a were-cat Diana, you could have really harmed him."

"First of all, he's a full nine years older than me. He should be able to defend himself."

"He's thirteen Diana. You are eleven. How are you passing math…"Mrs. J sighed, rolling her eyes.

Diana waved her off, "Second of all, he should have considered my wrath before he and his minions cornered my best friend in the hall this morning and made her cry. He's actually lucky that I didn't know he'd been tormenting Micah for months when I caught him cornering Missy because now that I know about it I have half a mind to make him hurt more."

"I didn't hear that." Mrs. J said. "Diana, you can't beat up everyone who makes fun of the people you love."

Diana snorted. "Challenge accepted, Mrs. J."

Mrs. J. groaned and held her head.

"I know that look." Her dad said walking into the office, holding her baby brother on his hip. "Only my spawn and I have been known to cause that look."

"Hi Daddy. Hi Bazyli. You didn't need to stop by, this was all a huge misunderstanding. They are letting me go free. Principal just apologized to me and thanked me for doing his job for him and Mrs. J was just giving me a note so I could go back to class." Diana said, "So really, you aren't needed here at all."

"Come on back Stiles." Principal Greenburg yelled.

Her dad handed her Bazyli and walked towards the principal's office.

Rude!

Diana huffed and made her way to sit down and wait. She didn't expect this to take long but holding Bazyli was hard work. She suspected most of his weight came from that dang name of his. It really was cruel of Daddy to give his son the same name he himself had refused to use. Diana suspected that her baby bro would go by Stiles once he started school like their father had.

"Wud up B-dawg? Drool on anything cool today?"

"No." He sighed as if in pain, "Daddy said I no make mess in hospital daycare anymore or I no go anymore."

"That is just mean. How does he expect you to have fun without a little destruction?"

"Dats what I said Diana!" he said patting her face as reward. "So, what you do?"

"Delivered some justice Hale-style on a bully who was making fun of Missy for having two daddies and one mommy. I found out after that he has been making fun of Micah for months." She said. "So really he got off easy. And now, Principal No-Action says he can't punish this jerk without evidence."

"That stupid!" Bazyli said, the patting on her face turning a bit slappy for her taste. "Why be mean because they have a mommy and two daddies that love them very much? That is mean." He said making his angry Hale face, which made him look a lot like mom.

"Sorry baby bro, it turns out that lots of people outside of the pack are meanies."

Mrs. J cleared her throat.

"I didn't say all people Mrs. J, there are lots of people like you who are super cool and nice. I'm just warning baby bro about the Bobby's of the world."

Mrs. J smiled at her and returned to her work.

Her dad came out of the office after that and sat next to her. "Good news is he is calling in the bully's parents tomorrow afternoon for a conference, and seeing what he can do as far as punishment. Bad news is that you're suspended for two days and I have to tell your mom about this."

Diana winced. Her mom would not be happy that she got caught delivering justice and suspended. Her mom wouldn't be mad at her protecting her pack mates, just the irresponsible way she did it (the school had cameras, and there were witnesses so she was dragged into the principals office after lunch time with all the evidence pointing to her crime). They were supposed to protect the town as Hales, not attack it citizens. Mom would have to give her a high five in secret while she marched her to the main house to face punishment. Since she was eleven now and the things she did outside of  _Wolf's Run_  were her Alpha's responsibility to punish not her parents.

Oh, the lectures from Uncle Der-Bear she saw for her future! And the extra chores from Aunt Deputy Erica!

She nearly regretted delivering justice just thinking about her punishment.

"So, why are we sitting here?" She asked.

"We're waiting for Micah and Missy. We're taking them home early. Allison called and pulled them out of class when I texted her to tell her they are being bullied." Dad said, "Aunt Erica will pick up the others at the normal time."

"Are you mad at me Daddy?"

"Not for protecting you pack-mates, just for the way you protected them, You have to be smarter. He could have been human and you could have put him in the hospital. Your fists aren't always the way you can protect someone. You get that hit first mentality from your mother."

"You might be right." She said with a smile, "As much as I'm pals with Mrs. J and Principal G, I spend too much time in this office." She said pointing to the sign taped on the chair. She had written her name on a post it and taped it to the chair last year.

"I've noticed." Her dad sighed.

Micah walked in the office a moment later. "Hey Uncle Stiles." He said, "Why are we leaving early."

"Because my daughter punched your bully."

Micah sighed and gave her Uncle Scott's patented puppy eyes. "How did you know about that? I only told Bree yesterday and she says she's handling it. Did she tell you?"

"You told my cousin and frienemy before you told me?"

"Well, yeah. She's my best friend and super scary. If she didn't tell you who did?"

"He cornered Missy this morning dofus! Did you not think the jerk would go after your sister?"

The Uncle Scott patented puppy eyes quickly turned into Aunt Allison's I-will-shoot-you-with- an-arrow-and-enjoy-it face. "Him and his minions went after Missy?"

"Yep. It's been handled."

Micah nodded. "Good."

Her father sighed. "Are we going to have a chat about violence with you?"

"No Sir, Uncle Stiles Sir." He said using Uncle Isaac's sarcastic smile.

"Jesus Christ, sometimes I think I know which of your dads spawned you and in the next minute you confuse me." Her father mumbled.

"How is Aubrey handling it when she's stuck in the 6th grade wing? She doesn't have classes with any 8th graders like Bobby." She asked Micah.

Missy skipped happily into the room with a smile. "Uncle Stiles you might want to stick around. I have a feeling you'll need to take Andi home too."

Then the phone to the office started ringing, and through the windows she saw a lion cub being chased by a snarling black wolf.

"Why didn't I think about chasing him around in my wolf form? That's genius! This is why she is the alpha-heir! Her brilliant ideas."

"Why did I grow up to be a responsible adult? If teenaged me could see me now!" Her dad groaned and walked out of the office. "Andromeda! Come back here right now!" he yelled in the direction Andi ran.

Moments later Andi trotted in in her wolf-form and Diana's dad used his phone to call Uncle Derek.

"Can you shift back?" She asked her cousin.

_No I tore my clothes. He was in class looking so smug, talking about how you're getting punished and laughing and I lost it. I could not let him keep making fun of you three within earshot of me._

Diana hugged her cousin and relayed the telepathic message to her dad and the principal.

The principal sighed and talked to Uncle Derek on the phone, agreeing to a parent meeting in the morning and that Andi could go home with them now. Missy went with Mrs. J to get Andi's things and within a half hour they were all leaving school.

"I don't understand why she's in trouble. All she did was chase him." Diana defended her cousin.

"I think it's more of a wolfing out on school grounds thing than her chasing him thing." Her dad said, Diana could tell he was still fighting a laugh.

 _Which means he'll get in trouble too._  Andi said in her mind.

Diana grinned and hugged her wolfy cousin. "This is why you're my favorite."

_It was Aubrey's idea. Mine was to simply use my claws and flash my eyes at him behind the teachers back until I provoked him to shift in front of the teacher. So only he got in trouble. But he wasn't paying attention to me so I went with plan B._

"Andi, don't give me a reason to like Aubrey." She sighed, "It's not natural."

"The two of you are so much alike" Micah sighed, "It's stupid that you aren't besties that are out to take over the universe."

"We're friends and enemies at the same time. We love each other, like spending time together but at the same time we would rather not admit that we have positive feelings towards each other. Also Micah, I've told you this a thousand times…I'm a superhero. Superheroes have no desire to take over the universe they want to protect it."

Missy sighed dramatically. "And I've told you a thousand times. You are named after a superhero you goof, that doesn't make you a superhero. Plus I'm too awesome to be anyone's sidekick."

Diana looked to her best friend and sighed, Missy was right…she was too awesome to be her sidekick. "We can both be superheroes. Superhero best friends."

"I'm fine with being a badass werewolf Diana." Missy said. "Have you see how bad ass our moms are? They kick but all the time. I think if I can be half as awesome as the women in our pack I'm more than okay with that."

Her father sighed from the front seat as they pulled into Wolf's Run. "Melissa please tell me you didn't learn the swear words from me. I'm already in enough trouble for Diana learning the f-bomb."

"No, Papa uses badass all the time. Mama and Dad aren't happy with him for that."

"Isaac does have a potty mouth." Daddy said. "Thank fuck it wasn't me."

Everyone in the car gasped.

"Daddy said bad word." Bazyli whispered. "Daddy in big trouble."

"How much ice cream will it take for you all to never tell anyone that you heard that from me?"

They all cheered for ice cream.

* * *

That night after dinner, her dad started the dishes while Bazyli watched cartoons. Diana and her mom helped clean off the table and made their way out the front door for the short trek to the Den.

They walked in the back door to find her cousins, and Aunt Marin gathered at the kitchen table. The twins were helping D.J, with his math, using all of their third grade knowledge to help their brother with the difficulties of first grade addition. Aunt Marin was braiding Avery's hair, having just finished with Amory's (Aunt Marin was the only one who the twins let touch their hair because they saw she was the only one who could do Ava's hair right) she was also correcting the girls when they told their brother something wrong. Ava was tracing her letters carefully trying to perfect her writing lesson, while Alan shook the table trying to mess her up. Aubrey sat at the far end of the table, leaning back in her chair extending and retracting her claws looking positively bored.

"They are still lecturing Andi." She said as Diana and her mom enter the kitchen. "Even brought in Aunt Laura to see if this was some sort of cry for help on Andi's part. They think she's cracking under the pressure of being heir." Aubrey snorted. "As if you and I would let that happen D."

"Never ever Bree." Diana said taking the seat next to Aubrey and ruffling Alan's head.

"Stop teasing your sister and do your homework Alan." Mom said as she made her way around the table kissing her nieces and nephews.

"I don't like math." Alan sighed.

At this Amory perked up. "I can help!" she said.

Alan smiled and went over to his fellow Druid. Alan had been smiling more and more since Aunt Erica and Uncle Der-Bear adopted the twins three-ish years ago. Amory and Avery were twins, that looked singular to him and Ava, and Amory was a druid (Avery was a wolf) making Alan no longer the only druid in their generation.

"I'm mad at you." Diana told Aubrey.

Aubrey raised her eyebrow in question.

"Because Micah told you about the bully first."

Aubrey sighed, "He's my best friend and he has a crush on you, Of course he's going to tell me and not you."

Diana blushed. "Don't tell my dad about that. He'd start planning our wedding. He was over the moon when he found out about my crush."

Her mom laughed at this, Diana glared at her. "Secrets safe with me baby girl."

Bree giggled and continued to play with her claws. "I just might tell him. That would liven things up around here."

Diana glared at her cousin.

Aubrey rolled her eyes.

Someone ran through the house, up the stairs and slammed a door.

Aubrey sighed, "Grown-ups are stupid. I'm going to go check on her. Good luck."

Aubrey left the kitchen as Aunt Laura entered it. "Marin, baby bro offered for us to have dinner here tonight. Is pizza okay?"

Aunt Marin hummed in agreement, as Diana's cousins cheered.

"Is Andi okay?" Diana asked her aunt.

"She'll be fine. Just a little grounding." Aunt Laura said. "Can't promise you'll get off that easy sweetie."

Diana shrugged her shoulders. She expected that much.

"Come on baby girl. Let's face the music." Her mom said holding out her hand.

When they made it to the study Her Uncle had his head in his hands and her Aunt was drying her eyes. Her Aunt and Uncle really hated disciplining their kids.

"My god the two of you are dramatic." Her mom said, "She shifted, she didn't hurt anyone. You look like she committed murder."

Aunt Deputy Erica laughed at that. "She's right Derek. I think we might have overreacted this time. I don't think she deserved that big of a lecture or a week of grounding."

"We should probably lower that to a few days, depending on how many days she ends up suspended for," He Uncle sighed. "As for you…"

Diana suddenly found her shoes very interesting. Wow blue converses! Was that the Wonder Woman symbol drawn on the sides? How cool! What gifted artist did that!?

"She accepts whatever punishment you give her. She knows what she did was wrong." Her mom said.

"Actually she thinks that the court should consider the fact that she was protecting her fellow pack mate first. But she also realizes she could have went about protecting her pack mate less violently." Diana said still looking at her shoes.

Her mom squeezed her shoulders…oh right she was supposed to keep her mouth shut. She forgot.

"Two weeks with extra chores." Uncle Derek said, "any argument from you and we can make it three."

Diana sighed. "I suppose that is more than fair. Thank you Uncle Der-Bear and Aunt Deputy."

Aunt Erica snorted. Uncle Derek groaned.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Aunt Erica said standing up, "Laura and Marin are staying. Laura made noises about pizza."

"We already ate. Stiles and Junior are cleaning up." Mom said.

Uncle Derek stood and hugged her mom.

"Derek you saw me all day today. Stop being weird." Mom whined.

He laughed and proceeded to pick Diana up and kiss her cheek. "Gross Uncle Der-Bear."

Aunt Erica laughed. "I'm going to check on Andi. Derek, make sure the others have their homework done."

"Be careful, Aubrey went after her and she has murder eyes." Her mom warned after her retreating aunt.

"Uncle Dearest? Aubrey is kind of scary. I would keep my eye on her if I were you."

"She's a lot like her mother." He said, setting her down. "I'll walk you both out."

All in all, she felt she got off easy. A few weeks of extra chores? No stipulations she couldn't make Micah help her? Was that it? Diana guessed that they took her heroic intentions into account after all. How neat. This was cause for celebration.

"Mom can we have ice-cream and watch Wonder Woman again?"

"Sure." Her mom said as they left the Den's porch and made their way to their house.

Score! Two servings of ice cream in one day, serving justice to silly bullies, getting off with a fair punishment, and finding out Micah liked her back AND she got to see Gal Gadot kick butt in the Wonder Woman movie? This was turning out to be a great day!

"Wait a second…your dad said he gave you ice-cream after school because he swore in front of you and the others. He called it hush ice-cream."

"Darn it! I was hoping he hadn't told you."

Her mom laughed. "Nice try. He tells me everything."


	6. Adoptions I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Derek and Erica adopt their twins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine
> 
> Check out my tumblr (hailhaleswriting) Or visit allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf for bonus info and updates on this fic and others.

**Life and Times of a She-Wolf**

**The Wolves of Beacon Hills**

**Adoptions I: Avery and Amory**

* * *

 

As it turns out one major side effect of having a large stable pack in the midst of a large supernatural community like Beacon Hills was that when supernaturals in the surrounding areas couldn't take care of, or didn't want their children, they left them on your land.

Surprisingly it happened often and as much as the pack wanted to they couldn't take in every child that was left at their gate; most of them were barely adults, not ready to raise kids at the time. They felt awful about it.

Luckily thanks to the relationships the pack had started to build (and rebuild from the days of Talia Hale) with other supernatural communities, they knew there were homes in Beacon Hills and beyond that would take in the children. So not long after the children started showing up at the gates of  _Wolf's Run_  (nearly three years after the Second Hale Fire) Allison McCall-Lahey opened up a supernatural adoption agency on Main Street in Beacon Hills and recruited some of her packmates to help her. There, she and her staff aimed to provide safe homes to the children that were left at the gates of  _Wolf's Run_  (or had come to the agency by other means) with supernatural families that they had investigated thoroughly, and had similar powers to the child.

Over the years the Beacon Hills Adoption Agency would bring together many families in Beacon Hills and beyond. And occasionally, after her friends finished school and started wanting children, Allison was able to match a child with her own packmates.

* * *

Erica had called earlier to let him now that they got a lead, and she and Bill were leading a raid on a suspected member of a supernatural smuggling rings' home. So Derek helped the girls with their homework, made sure all three of his kids were fed and bathed and put them to bed before starting his own nightly routine.

When he got out of the shower and found Erica crying on the floor of their bedroom he knew that what she found on the raid was horrible. So he sat down next to her and gathered her in his arms. And he smelled the scents of pups on her.

Not just any pups, frightened pups, pups that weren't biologically his but their scent gave his inner wolf the same feeling of parenthood that he got when he thought of Andi, Aubrey or DJ.

"Their father had them locked in the basement, with no light or proper toilet and with barely any food. When I carried them out of there they were crying for their mom, and I had to be the one to tell them she was dead. They clung to me and wouldn't let go. I think the wolf-girl chose me to be her adoptive mom… my wolf saw them as mine Derek, It nearly killed me to have to hand them over to Child Protective Services…I called Allison, her agency is taking custody in the morning, and she's going to try to find them a home."

Erica started to sob more.

Derek was conflicted. He wanted to take the pups in; his wolf insisted that they belonged with him and Erica but he knew that it could be difficult if his current children weren't up to the task of having two new sisters and helping them heal. If Allison could find a family without children that were willing to raise wolf and druid twins then he knew that it would be the best place for them.

_But they belong safe in our den._

"Mom? Why are you crying?" Came Andromeda's voice from the doorway.

Derek looked up to find his eldest children peaking thorough the partially opened bedroom door. Erica had the nasty habit of never shutting the door completely when she came in the room.

Aubrey, seeing no reason to stay outside the room now that her sister had announced their presence walked right to them and snuggled into Erica's side. "It's okay Mommy."

Andi walked toward them as well, but stopped when the scent of the pups hit her. "What happened to our sisters?" She said her eyes glowing gold. "Who hurt our sisters? Why aren't they here with us?"

Aubrey sniffed Erica, "They aren't in Mommy's tummy like DJ was."

"They have to live at the adoption agency until Aunt Allison can find them a good home." Erica said softly.

"Why can't they come to live with us?" Andi asked, "They belong here."

Derek looked to his wife, not knowing what to say.

"Well, I thought it might be a problem bringing two new kids into our family without talking to you. And if there are people that can give these girls more than we can, I think they deserve the chance at that family don't you?"

Aubrey grumbled in response, not liking the idea at all but having no way to argue.

His little Andromeda though, she had a response. "You are wrong Mom, we are the best place for them. So when Auntie Ally can't find them a home, you better say that we will adopt them."

Erica didn't look convinced, and Derek didn't blame her. His girls had a hard time accepting DJ when he was born, they did not like change at all. Yes, they were accepting of the possibility of two new sisters now but he worried that in practice it could be a disaster.

* * *

A week later, Allison had run out of suitable families to take the girls. All the families in her files were ignorant in raising both a druid and a wolf pup that had been through emotional trauma, and weren't up to the task of trying. Allison had come over the night before and begged Derek and Erica to try a home visit to see if the kids would get along and if the twins' instincts that chose Erica as an adoptive mother translated to Derek as an adoptive father.

He and Erica were nervous, but their daughters we excited to meet the twins. They had spent the last week setting up a bedroom for the girls, next to Aubrey's room and across the hall from Andi and DJ's rooms. They had purchased furniture, toys and clothing (Derek suspected his sisters, Malia and Lydia helped, but wouldn't be surprised if Andi and Aubrey had figured out how to shop online with a pack credit card on their own).

His son, who he had been holding, was picking up on his parents' unease and had begun to let out little whimpers.

"DJ is a grump like daddy." Aubrey said, as she skipped around the living room, fluffing pillows.

"How much did Uncle Stiles pay you to say that?" Erica said as she walked into the room with the tray of cookies she and Andi had spent the morning making, Andi followed her with a jug of milk and a stack of cups with cartoon characters on them.

"He didn't. Auntie Lia paid me six whole dollars." Aubrey responded, moving on to the next couch to pillow fluff.

"What are you saving up all of that money for Aubrey?"

Aubrey stopped her task to glare at him. "My finances are none of your concern Daddy."

Derek tried his best to hold in his laugh, he failed.

"They have a super secret project." Erica said through her own small laugh, "I caught Andi taking money from my wallet earlier and the both of them digging through the couches for change yesterday."

Derek stopped his laughing to glare back at Aubrey. If raising two daughters was this much of a headache, how much more difficult would it be raising four?

"Give up Daddy, I will always win." Aubrey said with a grin that reminded him of his mother.

Derek gave up his glare and gave his best helpless look to his wife.

"Don't look at me. I was a complete angel as a child. They get this from your side of the family." Erica said as the app on both their phones notified them of an entry through the front gate.

The girls ran to the front door screaming "They're here!"

DJ wrestled out of Derek's grip and toddled quickly after his sisters.

Erica sat next to Derek on the couch and grasped his hands tightly. "I really hope they like each other and the twins want us to be their parents. I think my heart might break if this doesn't work."

Derek gave her hand a squeeze; he didn't think his heart would be able to handle this not working either. These pups had his heart already, and he had yet to meet them.

He heard his three children laughing, introducing themselves, and the ensuing puppy pile that Allison broke up. Andi lead them all into the living room, promising the twins cookies and milk.

Derek's heart clenched when he laid eyes on the little girls. They were beautiful, and his wolf instincts were screaming that these pups were his daughters. But he stayed put, and simply gave a friendly smile. He knew what a horrible wolf and man their biological father was (and he wished he could kill the piece of trash all over again); he didn't want to spook them or worse, make them think he was anything like that other man.

It seems that he didn't have to worry, because as soon as they entered the room the pups ran to him and Erica screaming "Mommy! Daddy!"

He soon had his arms full of druid child and Erica had the wolf child in her arms, while Andi (having dismissed Allison, assuring her that Erica would call if they needed her), Aubrey and DJ looked on from the doorway of the living room with smiles on their faces.

The girls switched laps after a moment, and the rest of his children made their way into the room and settled themselves around the coffee table. Andi began pouring milk for herself and her four siblings while Aubrey put two cookies onto each plate and placed them next to the milk cups making sure that the plates were spaced out around the coffee table.

"Mommy, Daddy did you know that our sisters don't even have names! Their Mama used to call them both 'Adamma' but they don't have their own names." Andi said while glaring at DJ, who was grabbing at her milk cup. "Stop it DJ, I brought you a sippy cup, I just have to put the lid on."

DJ sat back, sufficiently chastised. "Thirsty." he whined.

His newest wolf daughter climbed off his lap and went to sit next to DJ. She kissed his cheek to distract him while Andi put a lid on his cup. DJ giggled and kissed her cheek in return.

"Thank you." Andi said, "You need to pick a name, so we all can stop calling you 'wolf twin' and 'druid twin' you are so much more than what species you are."

Derek smiled at his eldest, she was right they couldn't keep going on calling them by their species. He knew they both must already have insecurities rooted to what species they were, he didn't want to put any more emphasis on it than they needed to. They were so much more than their species.

"We want A names, so we fit in with Andi and Aubrey." Said the child still on Erica's lap.

"Well, we had a list that I made when your Mommy was pregnant with Andi. There's some good names there…I think there's a few A names too. If you don't find an name you like there we can go online and look for A names." Derek suggested.

"Derek, I have no clue where that list is." Erica sighed.

"I do." He said reaching for his back pocket. "I hoped the girls would want to be adopted by us and that we would be naming them tonight."

His new daughters beamed. "Read the A names to us Daddy." The daughter on Erica's lap asked.

He smiled and read the only two A names on the list.

And luckily enough, his newest children each seemed to find a name they felt was theirs on the list.

* * *

Allison McCall-Lahey put down the phone with a sigh and got up from her desk, walking across the hall to the office that her husband Isaac and her packmate Marin used when she asked for their help with a difficult placement.

Isaac and Marin had their own counseling practice in the building next to her adoption agency, but they would help her out when she and her staff needed it. Some of the children she had to place had difficult pasts, and if she placed them with a family who were not equipped to raise a troubled child, that could be more emotionally scaring for the child.

" _What's your favorite word?"_ She heard her husband say from behind the door.

_"Mommy."_ The six year old replied.

_"What's your least favorite word?"_

_"Bedtime."_

_"Do you love your big sister and little brother?"_ He asked.

_"Yep. Andi is a mean sometimes and DJ is a mommy-hog but I love them."_

_"How do you feel about getting two more siblings?"_

Allison heard Aubrey Hale draw in a lungful of air and let it out with a huff. " _I love my new sisters already and Mommy and Daddy have plenty of love to share, and whenever a new baby comes into the pack the only thing changes is that there are more people to love…but what if they don't like me?"_

Allison's heart ached, and she continued on down the hall, passing the bathroom, the conference room, and the playroom until she reached the large room that served as a reception area and held the desks of the rest of her employee/friends.

Kira was at the desk she shared with her husband. While her husband only worked for their little non-profit part-time and spent the rest of his time working cases for his parents firm, Kira devoted all her energy to Beacon Hills Adoption Agency as their only full-time lawyer.

Allison, Malia and Ethan were the agency's social workers, even though they all held other roles to keep the adoption agency afloat. Allison was the owner of the agency, so that came with reams of paperwork and making sure everything was being done right. Malia and Ethan kept the entire place clean and acted as receptionists. Everyone at the agency was on rotation to stay in the four-bedroom apartment above the offices when they had children waiting for placements or paperwork to go through, which was about 80% of the time.

Kira waived to Allison as she walked by, and Allison made a beeline for Malia's desk, sitting herself on top of it and sighing again.

Her fellow lieutenant glared at her, while rubbing her tiny baby bump. "Get over yourself Ally."

"Where's Ethan?"

"Upstairs with the girls." Malia said, "Kira, tell Ally to stop her little pity party."

Kira hung up the phone. "Ally, stop your little pity party. Those girls needed a home, and no one would take them both. You did the right think by asking Derek and Erica."

"My beautiful best friend, the voice of reason as always." Malia said, "Der and Puppy are on board with the idea, and so are their kids. I heard the laughter and excitement last night from my house during their home visit. No ones mad at you, you did good Ally." Malia said holding out her fist for a fist bump.

Allison gave a halfhearted bump, and rolled her eyes as Malia made explosion noises before returning to her work. Allison sighed and made her way to Ethan's desk to sit down.

It had been a few months since the incident Derek and Erica had with her Aunt Kate in Mexico, and their pack was still healing, Allison had really hated to ask this of her alphas after her aunt had put their family through so much more pain, but these little girls needed a home. No families looking for children were willing to take care of a wolf pup and a druid child who had severe early traumas.

They didn't even have names, the druid child had told Allison that their 'father' (if a man who brought your mother into the country against her will could be called a father) didn't think the girls deserved names if he was just going to sell them to the highest bidder when they were old enough, but their mother called them both "Adamma", which the girls said meant "beautiful girl" in their mother's native language. The girls were recovered in a raid by the Beacon County Sheriff's Department after a neighboring pack had informed the Hale Pack of a supernatural smuggling ring, that they suspected one of their former members were involved in. The girls had been locked away in a basement for most of their life and had rarely been allowed to visit with their mother (who had been killed by her captor when the police were entering the home on the outskirts of the county line).

The Hale Pack and The King Pride had interrogated the man, who gave up all his friends in the smuggling ring and admitted to be behind the recent were-cat kidnappings in in India and parts of the African continent. Derek and Bill King had killed the man for his crimes and The Beacon County Sheriff's Department then began to take down the rest of the smuggling ring in the county and passed information of the rest of the ring to other packs and to Cat King at the FBI. The men they had caught were now sitting in cells in The Council's prison under Eichen House.

This ring was more disgusting to Allison then Henry Maxwell's operation, because it was run by supernatural men. These men were stealing women from their families and communities and were selling them to other supernatural men. It was horrifying, and the authorities were still working on going through this group's ledgers trying to ensure that all the "clients" would be brought to justice and hoping to rescue more women and children affected by this group.

Everyone rescued so far has chosen to go back to their home country, but the girls' mother never told them where she was from in Africa and there had been no reports of a druid woman going missing in all the reports of were-cat abductions. Which meant she was from some remote village or she was presumed dead due to her home being near an area that was in the midst of a war. So the girls really had no home besides one another…

"Derek and Erica are the best parents for them. I just feel horrible asking after what happened in Mexico." Allison said, rolling Ethan's desk chair out and plopping herself into it. "The little wolf girl needs to know that all white male-wolves aren't like her father, and her wolf side isn't a curse, she needs a safe and strong pack to nurture that thought. And the little druid girl will have Marin and Braeden as teachers of all things druid. They will have siblings and parents to help them through life and an extended family so they feel safe…plus they basically chose Erica to be their adopted mom when she took them out of that damned basement"

"They have names now. And they chose Daddy to be their Daddy too." Andromeda Hale said, popping her head out from under Ethan's desk, looking too pleased with herself when Allison jumped out of the seat a little bit. "Avery Adamma Hale is my new wolf little sister, and Amory Adamma Hale is my new druid little sister. We all helped our new sisters pick out their names, they wanted A names like us too, so Mom and Dad made a list and we all helped pick."

"Oh Ally, Andi is here too. Derek and Erica are upstairs explaining everything to the girls and making sure they are okay with being adopted for the twelve billionth time and Ethan is supervising and playing with DJ." Malia said offhandedly.

Allison glared at Malia, she had almost had it with the members of the Hale family popping out of every nook and cranny of her office. She expected it at home, not at work. Malia just loved sneaking her son, nieces and nephews in to try to scare Allison.

"What is it with the Hale children and A names this generation?" Kira asked absently as she typed away on her computer.

Andi smiled, "I think there aren't enough A-names…Andromeda, Diana, Aubrey, Avery, Amory, Alan, Ava, Derek and Marcus….Aunt Cora refuses to name the new baby with an A but Aunt Malia says that if her new baby is a girl it will be Alicia after Uncle Boyd's sister…it's too bad we can change Diana, DJ and Marcus' names though…"

Allison shook her head, "I don't think anyone planned all the A-names Andi."

"No, but Uncle Stiles says Hales like naming patterns, he's just glad it's A-names this generation and no one has named their kids Nora or Dora." Aubrey said skipping down the hall followed closely by Isaac.

"Ok, are interviews are done?" Andi said, "Can we take our sisters home yet?"

"No, not yet." Isaac said.

Andi and Aubrey looked murderous, and Allison was reminded once again that not only were they children, but they would one day lead a pack. "We want to take our sisters home  _now_ Uncle Isaac."

"You will in a few days girls." Kira said, coming to Isaac's rescue without even taking her eyes from her computer screen. "I have to file a few forms, and your Uncle's reports about the mental states of you two, Avery and Amory and then your parents and sisters have to go to a court with me but after that they can come go home with you."

Aubrey was still snarling a bit, but Andi looked thoughtful and nodded her head. "It makes sense." She said grabbing her sister's hand, and walking towards the door.

"Where do you think you two are going?" Malia said, "I'm supposed to be babysitting!"

"Well, if you can keep a secret from Mom, Dad, Avery and Amory then we will let you come. Otherwise, this surprise is none of your concern Auntie Lia." Andi huffed.

Allison narrowed her eyes. Andi was eight years old and she sounded like an annoyed teenager (or Aubrey)… it was moments like these that Allison was glad that her children had her disposition. She wasn't sure she could handle raising a sassy children like Andi and Aubrey.

Malia got up from her chair. "You're a little turd, just like your father." She said following the girls out the door and down the street.

After the Hale women left the office, Isaac flung the folder he had been holding onto Kira's desk. Allison noted that he had crossed off 'Jane and Jill Doe' that was written on top of the file and wrote 'Avery and Amory Hale'.

Kira let out an annoyed squawk. "What the hell Isaac!" as her other files fell to the floor.

Isaac grinned, "Are you going to bring the  _thunder*_?"

"Allison, I don't know what you see in him, he's an ass." Kira said, cleaning up her desk.

Isaac kissed Allison on the cheek and walked out of the agency, towards his practice. She waited until he was out of earshot to respond.

"It's the case. It reminds him of his own abuse. I wanted to ask Marin to help instead but he went on about how Marin would be their aunt if this all went well, and that could be a bigger conflict of interest."

Kira stopped her work and looked up at Allison. "This job will never get easy will it? I keep thinking, it's been five years since we started, this will get easier after a while…"

"If cases like these ever are easy to handle, then there is something wrong with us." Allison said, "But seeing the families together and happy in the end, it makes up for all the bad."

Kira nodded.

* * *

Avery sat on top of Ms. Malia's desk (the nice lady insisted that she was Aunt Malia now but Avery wasn't ready to call her that yet) and watched as Amory, Aubrey and DJ played a game called 'Go Fish' on the floor next to the desk. Mommy and Daddy were still at court with Ms. Kira and Ms Allison, and Mr. Ethan was watching them all as he worked at his desk across the room.

She and Amory were at court with Mommy and Daddy but after the judge talked to them she said that Ms. Malia could take them back to the office. Ms. Malia said that it wasn't a bad thing that it was taking so long; she said that sometimes grown up things are silly and take a long time, they just had to wait.

Andi came skipping into the office carrying a small bag in each hand. Ms. Malia followed her inside.

It had been three days since her and Amory had met their new family and got their names. Over the last few weeks she and her sister had discussed how their Mama wouldn't be sad if they adopted into a new family, that she would be happy that they were safe and loved and far away from The Bad Man. They loved Mama still and always would, but that didn't mean they couldn't love their Mommy, Daddy and new siblings.

Avery thought it was weird at first that her new family had such pale skin. Before Mommy rescued them from The Bad Man, they never had seen a person with pale skin (apparently The Bad Man had pale skin but he only ever yelled at them and fed them through a tiny hole in the basement door, so they never saw him). But since getting out of the basement they had seen so many people, with so many differences and they thought it was an amazing and beautiful thing. All that mattered now is that her new family would love her and keep her and Amory safe.

In Beacon Hills, being a different color or species didn't really matter because the whole town was accepting of one another. And that wasn't important to Avery, because all her life she felt evil because she was the same species as The Bad Man, and different from Mama and Amory. She had always thought that wolves were evil godless beings that only hurt people. She always thought that she would grow up evil and end up hurting her sister, simply because she was a wolf and Amory was a druid like Mama.

But now, her Mommy, Daddy, and new siblings were all wolves, and her Mommy and Daddy weren't just any kind of wolf, they were alphas. They ran a pack full of different supernatural creatures and were the nicest people. Avery was proud to become the daughter of two kind, loving wolves, and was starting to think it wasn't a persons species, or outward appearance that made someone evil, maybe it was what was their soul.

Mr. Isaac and Ms. Marin had been helping her to realize that she was good, and that just because The Bad Man and her shared blood and a species, didn't mean that he had passed his evil soul on to her as well; and her protectiveness over Amory was evidence of that. They helped her realize that if she was evil she wouldn't have been so protective of her younger sister since birth. She wouldn't have made sure her sister ate first (and ate more) when The Bad Man remembered to feed them, she wouldn't have cared to lock herself into the small closet under the stairs on full moons so Amory didn't get hurt, she wouldn't have stepped in front of Amory when sirens sounded the other night and Mama was crying for help before she heard loud bangs and Mama was quiet, she wouldn't have made sure that Mommy carried Amory from the basement first, letting herself be carried by Mommy's friend Mr. Bill no matter how much he scared her because Amory was more scared of him (they had never seen a man before then, and were scared that they were all like The Bad Man).

Avery now found that her protectiveness was extending to her new little brother and her older sisters, and knew by watching her new sisters that a protective streak was a Hale trait. Her new parents and sisters (not to mention their whole pack who she would meet tonight) would protect her with all they had, and would sacrifice everything to ensure she and Amory were safe.

It felt wonderful to have another person look out for you.

Avery knew Amory loved her, but her sister had always been so sickly a weak. Mama had said it was because their magic was tied to The Homeland they couldn't practice magic, and that made them weak and sick. It's why Mama could never escape The Bad Man because he had taken her so far from her home. But ever since Amory had recognized Ms. Marin as a druid, and asked her how she was so strong so far away from the Homeland, she and her niece had been tutoring Amory everyday. Each day her sister got stronger and more vibrant. It felt like she was finally getting to know the person her sister was.

Andromeda handed her bags to Ms. Malia and hopped up onto the desk next to Avery, putting her arms around her and hugging her tight. Avery smiled and hugged her eldest sister back.

"You look sad." Andi said glaring at the siblings playing cards on the floor. "Did they exclude you Avery?"

"No," Amory responded, "Avery wanted to keep watch. She's worried we wont get adopted after all and is trying not to think about it by thinking of The Bad Man and how far we've both come since Mommy rescued us and watching the door to make sure nothing bad gets us while Mommy and Daddy aren't here."

Avery glared at her twin. Not only had she gotten stronger since she started druid lessons with Ms. Marin and Ms. Braeden, but she always seemed to have some sort of an idea what was going through her mind.

Amory simply smiled in return.

"Pay Amry!" DJ yelled throwing his cards.

Amory laughed and grabbed their little brother showering him in kisses and tickles until he was laughing too.

"Juliet says that you're going to be adopted." Aubrey said putting down her cards and climbing up on the desk sitting on the other side of Avery, "So stop being a grump like Daddy and DJ."

Avery laughed at that. And put her arms around her older sisters.

"Sure nieces, take over my desk." Ms. Malia said still standing by the door. "It's not like I have to work today."

At that, their parents, Ms. Allison and Ms. Kira walked into the agency with big grins on their faces. Mommy scooped DJ and Amory up off the floor and Daddy had picked up herself, Aubrey and Andi up off the desk.

There were tears and laughter and were more hugs and kisses than she expected.

"You're officially Avery and Amory Hale." Mommy said.

"We can take you home tonight." Daddy said.

Avery Adamma Hale was so overwhelmed with happiness she wept.

* * *

Amory Adamma Hale looked around the dining room of her new home and grinned. It was filled with people, with family, with  _pack._

Pack. The word really hadn't meant anything to her until today, Avery as a wolf instinctively knew the feeling of belonging being apart of a pack would bring, but she had never been able to put the longing for one into words.

Auntie Marin and Auntie Bray had been teaching her about druids since they met two days after Mommy recused her and Avery, before they even had first names. They explained that her Mama had been a type of ancient race known as a mage, and mage-magic was tied to the land. Mages were the oldest of the druid sub-species, they have existed since before druids started calling all species of magic-makers druid. Many druidic species didn't have connection to lands. They told her since most all druidic sub-species and choices (they also taught her the differences of species and choice, like how they both chose to be Emissaries, but they didn't chose to be born druids, or how a druid can chose darkness and become Darach) evolved from mages that they could teach her how to use the magic she needed to gain health and strength without looking for her Mama's Homeland.

They had blood-adopted her into their bloodline as their niece so she could access their bloodline's magic. All she needed was the magic of the Deaton bloodline for her body to recognize Beacon Hills as her adoptive family's Homeland and allow her to access her magic.

They taught her how to keep herself healthy, how to use her abilities (especially her ability to sense what Avery was thinking when she was stressed) and told her that she had a choice to make when she was older, like most druids, she would get to choose what to use her knowledge and magic in service of.

When Mommy and Daddy bit her and Avery on their arms, claiming them as their children and packmates in front of the whole pack, she started to sense them all like she sensed Avery. The links with every individual in the pack began to form in her mind, and while she sensed her parents, and siblings the strongest, they were all in her mind and they all felt nothing but happiness and love as Mommy and Daddy cleaned up their wounds, their sisters leached away what little pain they felt and Aunt Marin healed the bite marks.

Now she understood why Avery had always been longing for something she couldn't put words to. This was it. Pack was what her sister had needed, this unconditional love and this feeling of belonging, and now that Amory could feel it, she never wanted to loose it.

She was a Hale. This was her Pack. Her parents were alphas, her eldest sister their heir. Her parents, aunts and uncles had worked hard for this pack, and her siblings, her cousins and herself would one day be responsible for keeping this loving family safe.

She looked over at Auntie Bray, and knew what she meant when she said the other day that for her, there was never any choice. Auntie Bray had known she was going to be a Hale Emissary since she was born, she felt it in her soul that it was the best path for her. Amory felt the same right at this moment. She would be Andromeda's Emissary. Maybe her cousin Alan would join her and be a co-emissary, she didn't know his feelings on his path (he was only two like DJ and cousin Marcus, they were focused on mastering walking and talking). All she knew was she loved her new family and she loved her pack, and she wanted to keep them all safe.

Andi jumped up onto the dining room table, followed by Aubrey, who was carrying the two small bags that Andi and Auntie Malia had brought into the adoption agency earlier. "Attention please! Everyone look at me and Bree!"

"Andromeda Lyn! Aubrey Talia! Get off the table!" Mommy said loudly from the other side of the room where she was talking with Auntie Rose and Auntie Bray while rocking DJ.

Auntie Laura and Auntie Cora grinned and pulled out two dining chairs and Andi and Aubrey stepped down onto them.

"It this better Mommy?" Aubrey asked.

"Can we give our sisters our surprise now?" Andi finished.

Everyone laughed, and Mommy simply rolled her eyes. "Please do, I want to see what the two of you have been saving up for."

"Bree and I have used everything in our piggy banks and tried to earn enough to buy these." Andi said, "Everyone in the pack has a triskele that they wear everywhere. Mommy, Bree, and I all have necklaces. Mommy and Daddy gave Bree and me our necklaces on our fourth birthdays, and since you are already four we figured you needed one, and Mommy and Daddy would be busy making sure you were adopted to remember that its pack tradition."

Aubrey and Andi each took a box out of a bag and jumped off the chairs, walking around the table to where she and Avery sat on Daddy's lap. They opened up the boxes and Amory saw two beautiful triskele necklaces identical to the ones Mommy, Andi and Aubrey wore sitting on a soft blue fabric.

Amory looked at her twin who was grinning as happily as she was. They both jumped off their Daddy's lap and hugged their big sisters as thanks. After a moment of hugging DJ joined in and all five Hale siblings were laughing and hugging each other.

When the hugs were over they turned to their parents, were now kneeling on the floor next to the hugging siblings. At one point, they had grabbed the jewelry boxes that Andromeda and Aubrey dropped when Amory and Avery started to hug them.

"You girls, spent all that money on these?" Daddy asked amazed.

"We wanted to welcome them." Aubrey said, "Setting up their bedroom didn't seem like enough."

Amory doubted that. Their new bedroom was beautiful, and they had considered the fact that Amory and Avery would not be comfortable sleeping in separate rooms just yet. Avery had said that the room was like what she imagined the princesses in the stories Mama used to tell them lived. The bedroom made them made them feel welcomed, and so did finally having their own names. Her sisters didn't need to do this for them, especially going by the looks on their Mommy and Daddy's face.

"Girls, we never forgot tradition, were just waiting until Samhain** or Christmas. You didn't have to spend all your money on this. This is very sweet but these were expensive." Daddy sighed.

"Don't be mad Daddy." Avery said.

"We aren't mad, just surprised." Mommy said. "And we want to let you and Amory know that we didn't forget the tradition for you."

"I went with them when they ordered the necklaces Der-Bear." Auntie Malia said stepping forward. "Mrs. Kim knew they were your girls and thought it was sweet, she gave them an extreme discount so they could afford them. Chill. They didn't spend as much as you think they did. She said you can stop by and pay the difference when you had the chance."

"This is why we bring Auntie Lia along on missions Bree. She had our back. I told you ninety dollars wasn't enough." Andi sighed.

"It's the thought that counts Andi." Amory said. "You and Bree keep doing these things to make us feel welcome and loved, and we love you for it."

"I agree," Avery said, "But we don't need gifts from you to know you want us in your family."

Aubrey looked at them and then at their parents. "Andi, I think we went overboard this time."

"Yep. I think we went full Aunt Lydia this time."

The pack laughed at that, including their Mommy. Daddy looked slightly pained.

"Remind me to tell you girls of the time when Raul, Diego, Juliet and Connor were adopted and Lydia wrecked havoc on her biological fathers credit cards, and the pack credit cards decorating their rooms, buying toys and buying that huge playground that is out in the yard."

Amory looked over at Aunt Lydia who looked unrepentant. "Pack children still use that playground to this day Derek Hale. I stand by that purchase." She said looking up at the two young men standing on either side of her. "Little brothers! Defend me!"

It was hard to imagine the sixteen and eighteen year-old men being little bothers to the tiny redhead, but they were, and they were her second cousins now.

"They didn't go as far as Lydia would have" Diego said, "I think we should give them credit for that."

Everyone laughed at that while Aunt Lydia muttered, "I said defend me Diego, not the children!"

Mommy and Daddy had used everyone's distraction to get over their surprise, and Daddy took one of the necklaces out of its box.

"Your Daddy was the first one to put on Andromeda and Aubrey's necklaces, I think he wants to do it for you too." Mommy said.

"Avery first" Amory said, pushing her twin towards their Daddy.

After Daddy put on Avery's necklace, she kissed his cheek and then went to hug Andi and Aubrey. Daddy then took out Amory's necklace and waited for her to walk to him.

Amory skipped to her Daddy and waited patiently as Daddy put the necklace on her.

"This is the best day ever." She told Daddy when he was done, before hugging him. "I'm going to love being a Hale. I love you Daddy, Mommy, Andi, Aubrey, Avery and DJ. And I'm going to love the rest of the pack too."

She felt her sisters; Mommy and brother join their hug too and the pack talking about how cute they were together.

She was Amory Hale, Daughter of Derek and Erica, Sister of Andromeda, Aubrey, Avery and Derek Julian and  _Wolf's Run_  was her home from this day onward.

She belonged here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Footnotes:
> 
> *reference to the fact that Kira is a thunder kitsune
> 
> **more on what Samhain means to wolves to come in the next few chapters.


	7. The Bite Is A Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Derek Hale recruits his new pack
> 
> WARNING: ANGST/SADNESS/DEALING WITH TRAUMA ESPECIALLY IN LAST SECTION! (last section has three horizontal lines before it it has character death in it so some of you may want to steer clear)
> 
> Note:this chapter changes a bit of the events of what happened in season 2 and 3a in the show, so bear with me. Most of it you already know from Teen/Alpha She-Wolf.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note:this chapter changes a bit of the events of what happened in season 2 and 3a in the show, so bear with me. Most of it you already know from Teen/Alpha She-Wolf.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine
> 
> Check out my tumblr (hailhaleswriting) Or visit allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf for bonus info and updates on this fic and others.

**Life and Times of a She-Wolf**

**The Wolves of Beacon Hills**

**The Bite Is A Gift**

* * *

Derek Hale had been an alpha for five whole days and he was completely lost. He knew what he needed to do; he just didn't know how he would do it.

He needed to protect what was left of his family legacy: his baby sister and his family's land. That was his job now; make sure his sister and their territory were safe from harm. But to ensure that, he needed betas. And with Argents in town, and his uncle's clueless beta running around, he had no clue how he would make his home territory his again.

Braeden Deaton snapped him out of his thoughts. "Derek, Dad says dinner is ready." The sixteen year old huffed "And stop brooding, you're worse than Aunt Marin."

Derek smiled at the young druid, who was in training to be his emissary and followed her from the living room into the dining room where Alan Deaton was setting the last of the meal onto the table.

"Thank you again for taking me in while I find a place to stay." He told the Deaton family while they prepared to sit down for the meal.

"It isn't any trouble at all Derek. Marin hasn't been back to use her room since Mother died, I'm sure she wouldn't mind you using it, she didn't when Laura stayed over." His mother's oldest friend said.

"Our families are linked Derek," Braeden sighed, "I still don't know why you wont let me be his emissary Dad. I know things! I watched you and Grandmother growing up!"

"When you're older dear, for now, I'll be Derek's emissary. I made a promise to my best friend to look after her children if she were ever unable…I failed with Laura, I will not with Derek."

"Alan, you didn't fail Laura." Derek insisted, "I did, I kept her from this territory and evil took root in my Uncle."

"We can go back and forth with blame all night Derek, but the fact is Laura is gone, and you must do what you can to do to make her, and Talia proud. I shall help you."

"I need betas." Derek sighed. "But if I give the bite to a human, the Argents will have them killed."

Alan Deaton smiled, "They will be quite preoccupied with the news that it was Kate that killed your family. The Hale Family was well loved in this town Derek; the Argents will not know peace. If they make a fuss you and I will be having a chat with Chris Argent about how Beacon County belonged to the wolves long before his ancestors started hunting, his code is void here, just as it was when your mother, and her mother reigned. If he and his kills a wolf, then he shall face your wrath."

Derek nodded. "I want them all dead Alan, for what their kind has done to my family."

"Derek, did Laura ever share the journals of the Alpha's of your family?"

"Yes, Mom kept most of them in the vault under the high school. I know I can't hunt them down, the pack and the land has to be first. I understand that."

"Good."

"Laura, Cora and I had been making plans on building a new den, with some security improvements, I was wondering if you could help?"

"Of course Derek."

* * *

Three nights later he had found himself a four-bedroom apartment in an industrial building his family had owned in the next town over. His Mother had the old factory converted into an apartment building when Hale Steel had to close their operation in Beacon Valley*. The building was centrally located with his new job as CEO at Hale Holdings HQ in Beacon City*, Cora's classes at Hale College in Beacon Hills, and their family lands on the border of Beacon Hills and Beacon Valley.

He still hadn't found a beta to recruit, but he had hired a contractor for the rebuild, and Marin Morell had shown up out of the blue yesterday, vowing to help her brother help Derek, saying she had to 'make amends'. Derek had no clue what she meant but was glad to have another druid on his side.

Things were on the right track, but he was nervous. Cora would be finished with school for the semester and on her way back with all their things from New York, and he didn't have the power to keep her safe.

Which is why he was trying to build a porch by himself over the ruins of the house he grew up in, in the middle of the night, like a normal person.

He could almost hear Laura's voice taunting him for being creepy. He looked over his shoulder at the family mausoleum that held her bones, and the ashes of all the dead Hales (except Peter) and was disappointed when he didn't see her standing there smiling at him, and calling him a little turd.

He needed his big sister to tell him what to do. He didn't know what to do.

That's when he heard jeep approach the house.

" _Why would he be here Scott?"_  The Argent girls' voice said.

" _I asked Deaton, apparently he was a friend of Derek's mom."_  His uncle's beta responded.

" _Are you sure you trust this guy buddy?"_  the human sidekick asked.

" _Deaton trusts him, and I trust Deaton. Derek and I may have gotten off on the wrong foot but this is your life Stiles, I can't lose you. Derek is our only hope."_

" _I shouldn't be here, my bigoted family is the reason for his pain…"_

" _Allison, we're mates, and once your family finds out… I'm sure Derek will understand."_

" _I'll be worse than a wolf in their eyes. I'm with you guys. If Derek accepts us you both I'll pledge loyalty to the Hale Pack."_

Derek was intrigued by the conversation, so he let them approachand waited for them to get out of the car. "What can I do for you Omega?" he said addressing Scott, but then he smelt it…

The human sidekick, had mostly smelt of anxiety and fear in their previous encounters, but there had always been the underlying sent of something else, with his alpha abilities Derek was able to place the scent.

"You're ill, it's in the beginning stages but it smells deadly." He said addressing the human.

"I've been exhibiting signs of what killed my mom for a while now, but, mostly been denying it, Scott made me see a doctor after he was turned, said I smelt like what his mom smells like when she's working the cancer ward but worse. It's beginning stages." The human said.

"If I give you the bite, and you survive, you will be apart of my pack. Omega's die fast in this world, and cannot see another packmate die." Derek said.

"If Stiles is apart of your pack than I want to be too." Scott said. "And Allison is my mate…"

Derek thought for a moment, could he allow an Argent into his pack? "Have you mated?"

The pair blushed. "Yes."

"This means that when I claim Scott as my beta, Allison will become pack, I'll sense her, and an alpha command will work on her as much as it would for a beta. But you must pledge fealty to my pack, and give up your family's legacy."

"I will." She said.

He turned to Stiles. "Are you sure you want this? The bite is a gift that your friend didn't want. I need you to be sure Stiles."

"Yes. I'm sure." He said.

Derek was convinced of his answer and bit him swiftly.

Within the next hour, his new pack members were cuddled together in one of his guest rooms sleeping soundly. And Derek texted Cora to let her know that he had just added a two beta wolves and a human to their pack.

" _I'm proud of you big brother. I can't wait to meet them. Now go the fuck to sleep its your first day as CEO tomorrow."_  Was her reply.

Derek went to sleep with a smile on his face, feeling high from the power of having three betas and a human to call his pack.

* * *

After breaking the news to Stiles' and Scott's parents about their new supernatural status, and notified them about their child's decision to stay with him until Stiles transition settled, things were okay. Yes the parents were freaked out at first, but they believed him once they all shifted and explained the story of how Scott was bitten, and of Stiles' illness. The Sheriff was even relieved he wouldn't have to lose his son the same way he had lost his wife.

Every morning he would leave them to study the handwritten books that his great-grandmother had written with everything a bitten wolf needed to know about being a werewolf. Things that pups were taught as they grew up; everything from pack dynamics, to the nematon, to the history of their territory to how to control their new abilities. He left separate reading for Allison; journals of his human ancestors, they talked about what it was like to be mated with a wolf and be human in a wolf pack. They were all surprisingly quick studies.

Every evening they would get to know one another and Skype with Cora so she could bond as well. Things were going well, and Derek began to see these boys and the Argent girl as more than just a way to protect his sister and territory…they were his pack and he wanted to protect them too.

A week after he bit Stiles, Lydia Martin went missing from her hospital room, which sent Allison into a panic. Lydia was her friend and was injured by Peter not long before Derek killed him.

"Did he bite her?" Derek asked.

"Yes, but she smelt human." Scott said.

"When an alpha bites you, one of three things happens; you've been reading this." Derek sighed.

"Nothing can happen is one option, but only if you are supernatural…" Scott said,

"…you reject the bite and die." Allison said.

"Or you change into a wolf." Stiles said.

"No, that's not what the passage said Stiles." Derek nearly growled. "It says that you change, either that the bite triggers a dormant supernatural ability or changes you into a shapeshifter most likely a the same type of shifter as the alpha that bit you. There are many types of supernatural creatures, and most of them smell human at first smell."

"Peter triggered something in Lydia?" Allison asked worried.

"Yes, don't worry, the boys and I will find her before your family does. My uncle made her, so she's my pack now."

Scott and Stiles followed him out the door, and hopped into Stiles' jeep. They followed his camero toward Beacon Hills. The last sighting of Lydia had been near the preserve, so Derek had a feeling on where she'd go.

* * *

The redhead was crying on the brand new porch that stood in front of the ruins of the Hale House. She was also naked and Derek could sense a raw power radiating from her.

"Lydia, my names Derek." He said taking off his jacket and approaching her,

"Something's wrong with me." She stammered. "There's a man, with red eyes, like yours but his are cruel, he's telling me if I don't save him he'll live in my head forever."

Derek sat down next to the girl and wrapped his jacket around her. "My uncle changed you when he bit you, I don't know what you are yet, but I promise I'll protect you and help you. We're pack now."

She nodded and leaned into him. Derek knew she didn't understand, but she would.

They returned Lydia to her hospital bed, and the search was called off. In the week following she was visited everyday by Scott, Stles and Allison, who explained to her what had happened, and what being apart of the Hale Pack meant.

The day she was released from the hospital, Lydia Martin stomped her stiletto clad feet into his apartment with her packmates on her heels. "I, Lydia Martin, swear fealty to you, Alpha Derek Hale." She said with head held high, holding out her hand to be bitten. Unlike Allison, she wasn't pack with simply an oath.

But it was quite refreshing to not have to tell someone what oath to say to him. Derek had a feeling Scott and Allison had told her what needed to be said.

"I, Derek Hale, accept you, Lydia Martin as a member of my pack." he said in return before biting her wrist.

He felt her in the pack link immediately, and the power she brought to the pack was immense. Lydia Martin would be a force to be reckoned with once they found out what she was.

"I'll take you all to meet the Deatons in the morning." Derek said, "Typically emissaries' are considered full pack members, but Alan, was my mothers emissary and is only doing the job until Braeden is old enough. He feels its best for her training to keep her distance until she is ready to take over."

"Do you think they would know what I am?"

"I think so, you smell similar to a druid, so that would narrow it down considerably."

* * *

Derek arrived home from the airport to a conversation about someone named Jackson cornering Scott and asking how to become a wolf, Stiles was insisting that the option never be brought to Derek, because Stiles did not want 'that snake' in the pack.

The moving truck from New York with all of his, Laura's and Cora's things had arrived two days ago, and he, Stiles and Scott had put most of it into storage, Cora herself had arrived a few hours ago, with her remaining belongings. Derek had spent the whole trip from the airport listening to his sister talk a mile a minute about how excited she was to meet their new pack in person.

They walked in the door and set her bags down against the nearest wall, watching the pack talk in the living room of the open space.

Cora had taken a sniff of the room and marched towards their new packmates. Stiles was going on and on about this Jackson person and how he would like nothing more than to chase him around town in his wolf form to notice Derek or Cora. But Cora was looking at him like he hung the moon.

Oh no. It couldn't be.

He wasn't prepared for his sister to find her mate. And he definitely wasn't prepared for Stiles to be said mate.

"Hey Freckles, if you don't shut up, I'll punch you in that adorable face."

Stiles turned around and grinned. "Is that a promise Ms. Hale?"

Cora laughed and pounced on him.

Lydia smiled fondly at the couple rolling around laughing and kissing blissfully, and Allison and Scott looked at the pair of the floor confused.

Derek knew that he would have to have this talk with them eventually. Even though they were mated, their mate bond wasn't complete. He knew it, but it didn't really become apparent that they knew it until they saw Stiles and Cora together. After second of being in each other's presence, it was apparent that their worlds began and ended with each other.

He pulled them aside and explained to Scott and Allison about Triad mating bonds. The rare bonds where three souls came together instead of two. He explained to them that the incompleteness they had been feeling was not because they don't love one another, but because they had another mate to find.

"That explains this guy I have been feeling a pull too!" Scott exclaimed.

"I didn't want to say anything, but is he kinda tall with curly blondish hair? He works at the cemetery and has sad eyes?" Allison asked.

Scott nodded. "It feels exactly the way it felt when I first saw you. I just thought it was wrong because I'm already in love with you."

"I love you too Scott. But if what Derek says is true we could love Isaac just as much…"Allison suggested.

Derek left the two of them too talk more and mad his way to the kitchen to find Lydia crying.

"What's wrong?"

"What if banshees don't get mates?" she cried.

He pulled her into a hug. "I didn't have many friends before the pack Derek," She said "And I only ever loved one person, and I can't talk to him about it because the pack hates him!"

"This Jackson kid?"

"He's kind of an ass, but that's only because he thinks no one will ever love and accept him."

Derek sighed; Lydia had caught on quick on how to manipulate him. "You want me to turn him?"

"He already knows! And you need another beta!"

Stiles had pulled himself away from Cora long enough to object. "I hate Jackson Whittemore."

Derek glared at the kid who had been shoving his tongue down his baby sister's throat a second prior, and made his decision then and there.

"Any beta I make will be my choice Stilinski! And when I bring a new beta in, you will welcome them with open arms."

"We should make a puppy pile with each new beta! I haven't had a proper one since before the fire." Cora suggested, "Puppy piles are great for beta bonding. It could be like a pack tradition!"

Stiles looked intrigued. "Lets go unpack your things while you tell me all about this puppy pile idea…"

Lydia was still looking at him with wide-pleading eyes.

"Fine I'll look into this Jackson and into this Isaac."

* * *

Jackson Whittemore practically begged Derek to be changed. He did need another beta, and he did want Lydia to be happy (because he was terrified at the prospect of a pissed off banshee), but mostly he bit the boy to annoy Stiles, his baby sister's  _mate._

He took the groggy boy home and let him lay down in the living room to recover a bit before the pack came by for the pack meeting. One by one his pack tiptoed into the apartment (he didn't think they knew the word, let alone the action until then) and settled themselves in the living room whispering their hellos and 'welcome to the pack's to the half awake Jackson. Even Stiles whispered his greetings to his first beta-sibling, apparently the bond of pack was enough to dull the hatred the two had toward each other to a familial annoyance.

Once Jackson was wide awake, Cora, Scott and Stiles initiated a puppy pile while Derek, Allison and Lydia looked on with laughter. Derek was happy with the decision to turn Jackson, yes he seemed like a bit of an ass, but so was Derek before Paige's death. Derek had a feeling that Jackson would be a good wolf. Lydia was a bit disappointed when it turned out they weren't mates, but was happy to have a friend that knew her for a long time in the pack.

The pack meeting that evening turned to how Derek needed numbers for the pack to gain power, and to be able to protect their territory. Which meant he had to bite humans, or recruit other supernatural creatures to pledge fealty to the Hale Pack. He explained that people who had survived great personal or emotional hardships made the best candidates for bitten wolves, because they were twice more likely to survive the bite (according to his great grandmother's journals). She also wrote that the younger a human is, the more likely they were to accept the bite.

His pack promised they would keep an eye out for people at the college to fit the description. Scott and Allison also insisted that they would try to approach Isaac first with a relationship, and if he agreed to be with them, then once he met the pack it would be his decision to take the bite or not. Derek was inclined to agree. His selfish wanting of Paige to accept what he was all those years ago, led him to ask Peter to find someone to give the bite to her without her knowing, so she would be like him and accept him. That was not the way to treat someone you cared for, the bite should always be a choice, Laura raised him better than to bite people without their consent.

There were a few names passed around, and of the names Isaacs's roommate Vernon Boyd, and Jackson's best friend Danny Mahealani seemed like the best candidates to join the pack. In the days following Jackson joining the pack, Derek began surveillance on the two boys, to see if he thought they would be a good fit. Stiles insisted he was being a creepy stalker, and it did nothing for his reputation.

Derek only growled in response to that and left the room.

* * *

Scott had called Derek in a panic the night after he bit Jackson, saying that a rouge omega had hurt Isaac (who as Stiles would say, Scott was " _Derek-Hale level of creepy stalking_ "). Derek bit Isaac to save his life, wishing he had the kid's permission before he did so, and prayed to Mother Moon and his ancestors for forgiveness. Derek had to remind himself, that Isaac was pack even if he didn't know it, so he had to try to save his life at all costs.

Derek had researched the kid when he found out that he was Scott and Allison's mate, and anyone who could survive what he had in his life, had enough inner strength to survive the bite, and thrive once he turned. Derek wasn't worried about his survival, just worried that Isaac would never forgive him for being turned against his will.

Isaac survived after a few days in in a feverish coma, and woke up to find Allison and Scott at his bedside.

Derek really didn't want to be in the apartment as the three of them explored their connection, so the pack fled from the apartment for the night to escape the triad mates. Derek found himself making up a bed on the Stilinski's couch.

"A grown man fleeing your own home…I'd feel sorry for you Hale, but I don't. You subjected me to my son and Cora." John said as he brought him some spare blankets and pillows.

Derek shrugged, not feeling any regrets at all about banning Cora and Stiles from the apartment the night they met. He did not want to hear his little sister mate with his beta. They still weren't allowed back until their honeymoon phase wore off, and they could keep their hands to themselves in front of him.

"That's my baby sister, if I couldn't stop it from happening I wanted it happening far away from me."

John grinned. "I suppose what they've done makes us in-laws in your world."

Derek shuddered. "if they have mated, then yes, but I told my sister no mating until marriage so I'm going to assume that she listened for my own sanity."

John laughed and went up to his room.

The man was just as unhinged as his son.

* * *

Isaac wasn't the least bit angry with Derek about the way he was turned, which was a relief to Derek. He fit in with the pack great, and seemed happy.

Isaac was a gift: he stopped Allison and Scott from being so mopey, and he provided an ally in his Not-A-Fan-Of-Stiles Club (with Isaac it was mostly jealousy of the bond that Stiles had with Isaac's mates, and Derek knew the new beta would get over it once he realized that Stiles wasn't into anyone besides Cora). Derek decided to savor these days, because he knew a day would come that Isaac and Stiles would like each other, and would team up, and he was terrified for that day.**

In addition to being a gift, Isaac was also a blabbermouth; he had went back to his dorm room the week after he was turned and blabbed the entire story to his roommate, who had been worried over his disappearance.

Now, Derek had already made his mind up about Vernon Boyd, so Isaac showing up at the apartment with his roommate in tow, asking if he could join the pack and would Derek mind if he and Boyd room with him and Cora this semester (because they were having a hard time paying their room and board costs) wasn't as big of an annoyance as it could have been. His pack would definitely benefit with the addition of the strong soul that was Vernon Boyd. Someone that experienced as much loss as he and Cora had as was still standing on his own feet, despite being all alone in the world.

"Are you sure you want the bite Vernon?" Derek asked.

Vernon Boyd nodded. "Isaac says that The Pack is a family, and I want a family."

Derek understood, and gave the boy the bite.

Surprisingly, Vernon's transition was the quickest so far. As soon as Derek bit him he felt Boyd in the pack bond, and Boyd's eyes flashed yellow a minute post bite.

"Welcome to the pack Boyd."

His new beta grinned in response.

* * *

Derek didn't like to play favorites with his pack, but why couldn't Boyd have been Cora's mate? Derek's bond with Boyd felt familial, like his bond with Cora and Stiles was, it felt different than the bond he had with the rest of the pack, like Boyd was supposed to be family.

The horrible thought crossed his mind that Boyd had been meant to be Laura's mate, and that's why he liked the kid so much. But for Boyd's sake he hoped not, the kid deserved a living soulmate.

He was roused from his thoughts by his desk phone ringing, which was odd, because calls usually went through his assistant, a young woman from his mother's godmother's pack. Satomi Ito^ had been more than helpful when the his family lived in New York by making sure no other packs laid claim to their land. The least Derek could do for his great-grandmother's childhood friend was to hire her grandnephew's mate, who needed a fresh start after her mate was killed a few years ago.

"Isabelle?" He called out to his assistant.

"They have your direct line Mr. Hale, must be your sister, she's the only one with the number." Isabelle Ito called back.

Derek sighed, Cora was in class, if it wasn't her, it must be Stiles.

"Hale Holdings, Derek Hale speaking."

"Sour-Wolf! You finally picked up! That was unprofessional leaving me waiting for five whole rings!" Stiles exclaimed into the phone.

"How did you get this number?"

"Cora gave it to all of the pack, in case you didn't answer your cell phone and there was an emergency."

"Is there an emergency?"

"Yes, I worry you are a homophobe."

Derek gritted his teeth. "And why would you think that? And how is that an emergency?"

"Well, you haven't reacted positively to any of the flirting I have done at you, and you refuse to bite Danny. I want Danny in the pack, Danny wants Danny in the pack, and everyone in the pack is pro-Danny joining the pack but you. It's an emergency because I overheard Cora, Allison and Lydia's secret-girl-talk-lunch-date and Lydia's nightmares are getting worse, and she woke up this morning where Peter is buried, and she was injured. Something's happening, and we need more wolves, so she can be strong and fight this, and we can be strong and protect her."

Derek's annoyance changed to concern as soon he heard the worry in Stiles' voice, and the situation at hand. "I was planning on talking to Danny this weekend. I'm not a homophobe. I need you to calm down. Deep breaths."

He waited until Stiles inhaled a few times to talk again.

"We will help Lydia through this, okay? As for Danny have Jackson bring him by my place tonight. I'll have a chat with him. Who spilled the beans about wolves to him?"

"He's not stupid Sour-Alpha…he's seen Scott shift during a game back when Petey was pulling his strings…he put claws and super-strength together and took a wild guess."

* * *

Derek was glad to have a pack again, and loved all these people that were now family and more to him…but he needed some time alone every once an awhile.

So he lied and told then he was working late and just drove. He listened to the radio and just thought. His fears about being an alpha, his loneliness despite not really being alone anymore, his grief for the family that was lost to him… he just thought, and was glad he didn't have anyone yelling at him to stop being so grumpy, or creepy or overprotective. He was their alpha, it was his job to make sure they were safe and that they were the best wolves they could be… most of them didn't understand (they were still learning, they were allowed to not know) but it didn't stop it from hurting when they complained that he was a bad-alpha, even if he knew that they were mostly joking.

He needed a Third, he and Cora needed help with all these people, but none of his betas were strong enough or knew enough wolf lore to be up to the task…he knew something big was coming. He would just have to wait until one of his betas proved themselves, until then he and Cora would have to lead them through whatever mess was coming together.

He ended up at the construction site of what was to be the pack home, the wall around the property was complete now, the underground tunnels and bunker were all nearly finished, all that was left to do was the construction of the buildings. That would take a few months, but by the time his pack started school for the fall semester, they would be moved into the pack home.

As he was leaving he could have sworn he heard Laura say,  _"You're on the right path you little turd."_

Who would have ever thought he'd miss being called a little turd?

* * *

Fantastic, his uncle had risen from the dead.

He was grateful to have the pre-fire Peter back at least, but also kind of heart breaking. He was alive and Laura wasn't!

Derek was grateful for his help during the mess with the Argents…but once Gerard was dead, they disowned Allison, and left town, Peter's presence began to make Derek angrier and angrier.

Thankfully Peter took the hint that he wasn't wanted around in late April, and the pack was free of him by the beginning of mating season, with the parting words of "Places to go and people to see…"

The after the mated pairs were done with their heats, the summer was uneventful, just blissful pack bonding and prepping for their new home. It was decided that everyone would have their own space at the new place, but not everyone had to live there full time. (Judging how frequently the entire pack slept in the apartment, Derek suspected there weren't going to be many nights when the pack was not sleeping at the Den.)

They moved into the Den in August, the outbuildings and the smaller houses would take another few months, but for now everyone was able to have a room in the Den, until their homes were finished.

The home was filled with joy and happiness, they had the Deatons over for a pack house-warming dinner, to thank Alan and Marin for their help and have more time to bond with Braeden, as she would be pack once her training was complete. It was a happy affair, until Alan and Marin pulled him aside from the laughter and conversation to talk in his study.

"My sister has something to tell you." Alan whispered so prying ears would have difficulty.

Derek waited; he knew it was bad as they both reeked of anxiety and fear.

"When I was twenty I ran away from my family, and my responsibility of being Laura's emissary because of a stupid argument and I was afraid of the life that had been planned for me since I was born. In rebellion I joined up with another alpha. At that time your mother was allowing packs to use Hale Pack land as a neutral place. There were a few packs here at the time…I'm sure you remember one of the alphas…Ennis?"

Derek tensed. The alpha Peter asked to bite Paige.

Marin continued. "I joined with a man named Deucalion. Thought I could forge my own path with him. Soon after, Gerard Argent blinded Deucalion and drove him mad. He asked the two alphas in town for the summit, Ennis and his new-found mate Kali, to kill their betas and emissaries, take their power and join him in a pack of alphas. Before I could stop it, it happened. I parted ways not long after and simply was pack-less, I figured if I made such a terrible choice in pack the first time, I might again…since then Deucalion and his pack have been traveling around to small, or weak packs, and forcing the alphas to either die or kill their own and join his pack. But these unsuspecting alphas don't know that either way they will die. I haven't been able to stop him yet…and now he's on his way here. He heard there's a new Hale Alpha, he wants the power your mother once had. "

Derek let out a roar in response to the news, unable to contain the anger at Marin's tale any longer. "He will not harm my pack, and he will not have the power of my ancestors." Derek growled.

"Well, there's good news, or bad news I suppose…" Alan said, "There have been a series of sacrifices in town, only a few, but I believe there's a Darach in town, wanting to awaken the nematon. I know all the druids that live or have lived in this town, and only one is unaccounted for. She disappeared around the same time that the alpha pack did. If we can find her, and get her to stop killing innocents…and make ourselves known as allies, we have a more than fair shot at beating the Alpha Pack."

Awaken the nematon? Was Alan insane? Derek couldn't let this Darach do that. His pack wasn't nearly strong enough to defend it. And he wasn't about to let someone who had been killing residents of the town he was meant to protect go unpunished no matter who she could help him defeat. The Hale Pack's duties were clear; protect the pack, protect The Great Tree, protect the territory, and protect the residents of the territory; the people of Beacon County, specifically Beacon Hills, were the residents of his territory.

"No." He growled, "We will find a way to stop the Darach and the Alpha Pack. I will not excuse what she has done to those innocents."

"You're an idiot. You'll die a stubborn like she did!" Marin yelled as tears filled her eyes.

He had no time to decipher her meaning. "Alan, take your sister and leave. My pack and I have a discussion."

They began leaving the room and Alan called for his daughter.

"No." Derek said, "Braeden stays, I need information on Darach, and I am angry at your suggestion. I wont involve her beyond information tonight. I'll bring her home in the morning."

Alan nodded reluctantly and left.

* * *

So there was a little brightness in the midst of the Alpha-Pack threat and the search for the Darach. Boyd had found his mate, and brought her to meet the pack.

And it was clear now why Boyd always felt like family…His mate was a Hale, Derek's little cousin.

Malia Tate was a strong wolf (a bit insecure and frightened that she was destined to be like Peter) she was knowledgeable and powerful. A strong omega seemed like an oxymoron, but Malia had Hale blood and the powers of one who could change into an actual wolf, she was every bit as powerful as every Hale woman before her. The only thing that changed when she pledged fealty to him was that power was heightened in a pack, and aided in strengthening her packmates.

It was pretty clear to Derek who his Third was, and no one could cry nepotism at his choice. Cora and Malia were the strongest in the pack after him, it made since that they would be his Second and Third. It was only a bonus that they happened to be his sister and cousin.

Malia had brought her kitsune roommate Kira Yukimura into the pack. Kira turned out to be Jackson's mate, and fit in nicely. Most importantly, she didn't tease him like everyone else in the pack seemed to love to do; she would just offer her sympathy with a hug.

He thanked her for her kindness with a leather jacket, it was getting chilly and she was so tiny, he worried she'd freeze. Unfortunately everyone in the pack got jealous and demanded his or her own leather jacket. After he gave in and got each pack member a jacket, Cora got the idea to give everyone some sort of jewelry that had a triskele on it, declaring it an early Samhain present.

(Cora and Malia explained to the pack that each supernatural creature celebrated Samhain for different reasons. Wolves celebrated living through The Hunter's Moon in October and prepared for the celebrating the coming New Year and the celebrations of The Wolf Moon in January. It was basically Christmastime for wolves, even if they celebrated the human holiday. It was a time to celebrate love, pack, family, Mother Moon and  _life_.)^^

He was starting to think the suggestions were less about pack unity and celebrating life and more about seeing him squirm spending all that money to make his pack happy.

* * *

Honestly, surviving the Alpha Pack was the combination of dumb luck and reckless stupidity. Yes, they fought them, but as soon as the Darach showed herself, Deucalion had more interest in her.

Jennifer Blake/Julia Baccari/The Darach had completed most of her sacrifices before the pack found her, and decided to capture Derek and the newly-wedded John Stilinski and Melissa McCall to use as the final sacrifice. The Deatons helped Cora, Stiles and Scott do some sort of proxy-sacrifice to save their respective 'Guardians'. Derek was half tempted to kill the three himself for risking their own safety, and for awakening The Great Tree.

The Darach was powerful enough to take on Deucalion now, and didn't want to wait for the Lunar Eclipse to do it.

And unfortunately for the alpha pack, Ethan and Aiden Jones had chosen then to declare they were leaving Deucalion's pack to join their mates in the Hale Pack, meaning the alpha pack lost all the power the twins brought.

The Darach and Alpha Pack wiped each other out that night, and when the Hale Pack arrived at the scene they only found the barely breathing twins, with beta-blue eyes.

Once the boys could stand on their own two feet and could be pried from Danny and Lydia, they pledged themselves to the Hale Pack.

* * *

Alan had found that the tree awakening would only strengthen the humans and supernaturals that called the land home, and wouldn't be of harm to anyone as long as it had a strong group of protectors.

The Hale Pack qualified as protectors, Derek would prefer if The Council was still around to help, but he hadn't heard a peep from them or smelt anyone in town that wasn't human besides pack. So he assumed that all the supernaturals and their leaders either left town when the Hale Pack was destroyed, went decided to hide themselves and their scents, or they simply thought they were better off without a pack in town. In any case they were on the pack was on its own, they just had to keep proving themselves worthy of The Nematon's blessing.

* * *

He had a mate. Lydia and Melissa had taken care of her during her seizure today and he smelt her on them this evening.

The alpha in him wanted to use what resources he had and find her. But the man that his mother and big sister raised him to be knew he had to wait until she was eighteen to meet her. She deserved to live her own life, have what was left of her childhood without an alpha werewolf luring around.

He knew one thing. Her name was Erica.

It took all he had not to search for her, knowing it wouldn't be hard to find seventeen year old girls named Erica with epilepsy in Beacon Hills…but he waited, Mother Moon would bring him and his mate together when it was the right time.

* * *

He made it until just after the New Years and Wolf Moon celebrations before his resolve broke.

Melissa had called him out of courtesy and friendship to tell him Erica was in the hospital again after having a seizure at school. She told him that Erica hadn't been taking her medication, and the doctor and her parents would be having a talk with her. She told him that yes, it was risky to not take the medicine but the doctor and her parents would be more watchful now, that everything would be okay.

" _Don't worry Derek, she's in good hands. She'll be fine."_  was what Melissa said

His inner wolf however was livid.  _Mate is putting herself at risk. We must save her. Give her the Bite. Mother said the bite is a gift. Mate will survive, she was meant to be a Hale, human or not. This way she will be healthy._

He didn't like taking what should be Erica's choice from her, but his hesitation was enough for the alpha parts of him to take control and do what it thought was the best way to protect his mate from herself.

He woke from his haze in the hospital's morgue; a girl with a mass of blonde hair was passed out on the gurney in front of him her neck bleeding from his bite.

His mate had the worst first impression of him, and it was his own fault.

If Laura were still alive she'd beat him black and blue for this. This was wrong. Unlike Derek turning Isaac without permission, Erica wasn't in immediate danger of dying, he had time to ask her for permission, she should have had the chance to say no. He robbed her of that because he was worried he'd lose her before he even got to know her.

Now he was at an even greater risk of losing her.

So he picked up his phone and dialed his sister. "Cora, I did a stupid thing. I need your help, call Malia and mobilize the rest of the pack, I turned my mate without asking and we're at the hospital."

Cora surprisingly was able to hold her tongue at that moment, but once Erica was safe at  _Wolf's Run_ , and he was preparing to go see her parents with the Sheriff to tell them what he had done, she kicked him in the balls.

Luckily no one but his cousin was in the study to see his pain, unluckily though Malia decided that he needed another kick to the balls for his misdeeds.

"You are an idiot Der!" Cora yelled.

"I don't disagree." Derek gasped.

"You deserve way more pain than what we gave you for this." Malia hissed, "What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't, the alpha took control."

Cora looked disappointed. "Don't use that excuse Derek, take responsibility. Just because the more primal side of you took over doesn't mean it wasn't you too."

"The alpha is me, I know that. I take full responsibility for it. I'm just saying at that moment I wasn't thinking, I was running on wolf instinct, and the instinct was to protect her. I wasn't thinking about anything but her survival."

They both nodded their heads, looking a bit relived that he was at least taking responsibility for what he did and not trying to minimize his role.

"Go meet John at the Reyes house okay?" Cora sighed, "We'll look after her."

Meeting his mate and turning her marked the end of his first chapter as alpha, and the beginning of a new chapter for him and his pack.

He felt her thriving in the pack bond already. Erica would be a powerful she-wolf, and a great alpha-mate given a bit of time.

He hoped one day she would forgive him, but if not he thought he could be okay with not being with her as her mate. As long as she was happy and alive everything would be okay.

* * *

* * *

* * *

Andromeda closed her father's journal after that passage. She read her mother's journals over and over as a child, the ones she kept from the day she was bitten until…well until her last entries. But her father's journals had always been taboo. She had never been allowed to read them…her parents never wanted her to know exactly what Kate Argent had done to her father's psyche…but they were gone now, and they couldn't exactly stop her.

She couldn't stop crying. She spent her whole life preparing for this day, and still they left her too soon. She wasn't ready to be an alpha.

She skipped ahead a few journals to the one from when she was sixteen.

 

_Andromeda has changed. Her eyes are blue now, like mine once were. I worry that my brilliant little girl will be forever scared._

_Why is she so much like me? Sacrificing her own innocence to ensure her first love didn't have to suffer any longer? The irony would be funny if it weren't so cruel._

_I watch her closely now, to make sure no one sweeps in to take advantage of her grief, to make sure no one rapes her and tortures her as I once was raped and tortured. Erica thinks I'm overreacting, but she doesn't know what that woman did to me after I killed Paige. No one does. I haven't even written it all down._

_My baby girl's wants to be just like me when she gets older, but I want the similarities to stop now. Let her have what's left of a childhood, let her grow; let her smile again…Please Mother Moon! Let my daughter know no more grief!_

_I worry what will happen when Erica and I are gone. Who will take care of Andromeda when her eyes glow red instead of blue? Will I have had the time to teach her enough? Will my other children be old enough to help her? Will she have surviving uncles and aunts to guide her?_

_I hope she doesn't loose us until we are old and grey. But I know it's foolish to hope that. Things have been too good for too long. Evil doesn't rest for long._

 

She had been hoping to find some wisdom in her parents' journals or in any of the Hale journals, but the only thing she was able to take from it was to keep moving on, and protect what was yours with everything you have in you.

Mommy and Daddy were gone and she wasn't anywhere near ready to be alpha, but she had to be. She had a family to protect. She had siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles that survived the battle, and she had to lead them. She had the next generation of the Hale Pack, including her own child, to protect; they had survived this battle too, and most of them didn't understand what was happening.

Her eyes glowed red and she stood, dusting off her black dress readying to leave the room. She had already avenged the dead, now all that was left was to bury them.

This was how her reign would begin, like her father's did, like all alphas reigns began, with loss.

She would do her best to make sure the rest of it was only filled with good things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Footnotes:
> 
> *The Hale Pack's territory covers all of Beacon County (a fictional place in the USA); In the most states in the USA counties are a group of cities and towns. In my AU Beacon County is located in Northern California, about an hour or two drive from San Francisco. The Beacon County Sheriff's department oversees the policing of the whole county, even though some cities may be large enough in population and size to have their own police department. Beacon City is the counties largest city (where the headquarters of Hale Holdings is located), and Beacon Hills is the second largest city in Beacon County (and is where the nematon/ Wolf's Run is located). Beacon Valley and Beacon Township are other cities I made up for this county. I may make up later, but for now we can assume there are at least three other cities in the county (perhaps not all of them having 'Beacon' in their name, that was kind of silly of me).
> 
> **Derek may seem anti-Stiles, but he doesn't regret turning him. Stiles is pack to him, the first beta he turned, Derek likes him. He just really, really hates that Stiles is Cora's mate. Older siblings sometimes don't like our younger siblings partners because we still see our siblings as the kids they once were.
> 
> ^I made Satomi a childhood friend of Derek's great grandmother, friend of his grandmother and godmother to his mother. To make it clear why Satomi would protect the territory while Derek, Cora and Laura were away. It was said on the show that Satomi is the oldest wolf alive, and she was older in the 1940s so I figured it was possible for a great-grandmother of Derek's to have been a child when she was a child.
> 
> ^^I've been trying to make up a religion and mythology that Derek and his family and other wolves in this world would believe in/practice. You've seen hints at this before. Mostly its drawing from wiccan, pagan and Native American beliefs and customs and applying them to what I imagine werewolf's doing. Sorry if its too weird, or inconsistent. I try to keep continuity but I fail sometimes. And sorry if i've offended anyone by taking their personal beliefs or culture history and trying to fit it into this AU.


	8. In Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Pivotal training exercises for the Hale pack
> 
> Prompt: I've gotten the prompt from quite a few reviewers (sorry I haven't written your names down) since Teen She-Wolf ended for Erica's first stealth exercise. (first one she was present for was in chapter 5 of TSW, but Derek had her sit out because she was new)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Thank you to my friend IRL Allie, who has been my sounding board for my teen wolf fics since I started TSW! She's the best!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine
> 
> Check out my tumblr (hailhaleswriting) Or visit allhailhales DOT webs DOT com / teen-wolf for bonus info and updates on this fic and others.

**Life and Times of a She-Wolf**

**The Wolves of Beacon Hills**

**In Training**

* * *

Sometime after Danny was turned, Derek Hale came to the realization that his apartment simply wouldn't cut it for training his pack on how to use their abilities and defend one another.

So one Saturday (because it was the day everyone had free, and the construction workers didn't work on weekends) he ordered his pack to his land. The site intended to be the training field had construction equipment parked on it so he opted for the morbid choice: the clearing in front of what was once his family's home. There he paired his betas off to spar while he and Cora walked around correcting their form and gave them pointers. He had Allison and Lydia sparing too; Allison's task was to teach Lydia to defend herself (they didn't know if her banshee abilities would bring offensive powers, so Allison was teaching her friend what she knew). The aim was simple; his pack members (wolf and non-wolf) would be able to defend themselves and one another, no one would be defenseless.

This wasn't their first training session, but it was the first he held with more than two pack members present at a time. It was good for his pack to not only see what they could learn from each other, but see how dangerous they could be to an enemy once they knew each other well enough to work together without speaking. He was very proud to see how fast they all progressed when training together.

Saturday training became a weekly event (for the most part) for the Hale Pack; and after three successful training sessions, Derek decided it was time for his pack to hone another skill.

The ability to approach an enemy undetected was essential. He wanted to ensure no one could hear his betas approach unless his betas wanted them to. Also, he needed to hone his own ability to detect an enemy who was trying to be undetected; countless ancestors had perished because an enemy approached from behind, including his own father. He wanted to be able to detect them so well that he could fight an enemy in front of him and be aware of the one at his back.

That is how their stealth exercise tradition began. Each training session would end with the betas running into the woods, and him either turning his back or blindfolding himself. The goal was for one of them to pin him, but if he pinned them they were eliminated.

* * *

The first time they trained after Derek's resurrection (and everyone else's recovery) was difficult for Erica. She had only been to one Saturday training session, and that was when she was a beta. The alpha within her demanded she be the one leading the pack in their training, but the human in her knew she didn't know nearly enough yet to lead.

It had only been a week since Derek's rebirth and a few days since Lydia's party. Today, Allison, John and Mel were doing target practice on the side of the garage; and Lydia, Sarah, and Kira were sparing with the wolves. Everyone was paired off and fighting well considering some of them had recently been dead, close to death or in comas nearly two weeks before.

She ended up sparing with Derek, as it was only fair for it to be alpha versus alpha. No one really came out the victor in their bout but he kept her on her toes.

Then it was time for the stealth exercise. But as an alpha, she felt like she needed to hone her ability to detect a threat from behind too. Her mate had just died from such an attack, they both needed to learn how to fight as a team and protect one another as an alpha pair. It only made sense that they do this together!

Derek, sensing her argument simply pointed to the woods were his betas were.

"I am not your beta Derek Hale." She growled, her eyes bleeding red "I am your mate and an alpha. I deserve to lead to. And we need to learn to fight together better."

His eyes turned red in return. "You need practice in this too Erica."

"I'm faster than you and lighter on my feet Derek, I bet I can pin you."

He growled at the challenge.

"And when I do pin you, I get to lead training sessions and stealth exercises with you."

He actually showed teeth at that suggestion, but managed to respond verbally.

"Fine. If you can pin me, we will lead Saturday training together."

Erica ran for the woods and hid behind a tree.

Cora ran to her side a minute later. "Do you want us to help you cheat? Because I will but some of us are terrified of all the work two of you will make us do, so I kinda don't want this to happen for selfish reasons."

Erica rolled her eyes at Cora. "You work on getting your mate out of this without me trying to kill him and everything will be fine."

" _I promise to keep my lips to myself this time Puppy_!" Came Stiles' voice from across the woods.

" _Do you idiots know you're giving away your positions to me._ " Derek yelled.

"Did he just call me and idiot?" Erica hissed.

" _I didn't mean you Erica_!" Derek yelled, " _I meant my sister and her mate…"_

"You hesitated." Erica growled.

"Oh, Erica." Cora said with a gleam in her eye. "Take him down."

" _Someone is sleeping outside tonight dearest nephew_." Came Peter's voice, Peter was able to throw his voice, so Derek wouldn't be able to tell from which direction he was coming from, but Erica had seen Peter and Malia climbing up into the trees on the edge of the woods, she knew they had something planned with Boyd, Cora and Stiles to finally take Derek down.

Erica decided she would wait to see their plan unfold before she made her move. She was a bitten wolf, which meant she would not be able to hide her scent from Derek, so she needed to walk around upwind of him and run around the woods for a bit, to make sure her scent was coming from all directions before she struck.

And the scents of all the betas in the clearing would certainly not hurt.

She took off her shoes and socks and started running back and forth along the clearing just inside the trees. So she could see what was happening on the training field, but the pack members watching would only be able to see her hair if they saw her at all.

Derek roared, " _GO_ ", and her pack-mates began.

She watched as Scott and Isaac went first and ran at Derek from opposite directions. He knocked them down and pinned them without much effort.

She used the arousal at seeing her mate's ability as an alpha to her advantage. The arousal would make her scent stronger, and would make it more difficult to tell which of the scents was current as arousal lingered in the air longer. Not to mention the distraction smelling her would cause him.

" _Oh my god! I know what you're doing and you're an evil genius!"_  Cora whispered to as Erica ran past her.

Jackson and Danny went next, and approached quickly, yet nosily from Derek's right. Which was not a good move, Derek had excellent peripheral vision, not only could he have heard that before they left the woods, but he could see them. Derek looked bored and turned to them, simply raising his eyebrows. " _Are you going to make me pin you or are you just going to give up and go to sit down with everyone else?_ "

While Erica made another lap she saw why Jackson and Danny approached the way they did. The twins (scents concealed) were approaching Derek's back quickly, while Derek was having a stare down with Jackson and Danny.

The only thing that gave them away was an unfortunately placed twig snapping under Ethan's shoe. Derek quickly ran and pinned Aiden and Ethan once he was aware of them.

"Nice try."

Boyd and Stiles were next; they came out from behind the garage (completely breaking the rules that you were supposed to use the woods to stage an attack) and used the fact that Aiden and Ethan were pinned very near to the woods to their advantage. They both charged Derek once they were close enough, Derek put them down, but as soon as he did, Cora, Malia and Peter sprang from the treetops and landed in front of a crouched-down Derek.

The four Hales fought for ten solid minutes. Peter, Malia and Cora were able to land many blows but Derek was holding his own. After the ten minutes he threw Malia across the field (she quickly got up and charged him) and pinned Peter and Cora before Malia was able to make it back to where he was and he pinned her.

Erica was very impressed. Her mate had fought of three very powerful wolves by himself and won.

" _Gross_." Malia said as she got off the ground. " _This whole field reeks with Alpha Female arousal…_ " She then took a sniff of her cousin and looked horrified, " _Not you too! That's gross Derek! I am really not looking forward to mating season living in the same house as you_."

Malia walked away, and Derek looked into the woods, eyes gleaming red. " _Erica you can give this up and we can go to our room…_ " he said huskily.

Damn him! He knew husky voice did things to her! The cheater!

He was going down.

She took off the tank top she had been training in, it reeked of her sweat, arousal and natural scent. She placed it over a tree branch and made sure that some of her hair was on the top so he would smell her shampoo. She then went deeper into the woods and dug in the ground. She used the dirt to rub into her hair, and onto her clothing and skin…dulling her natural scent as much as possible. It was the closest a born wolf like her would get to concealing themselves.

She then walked slowly to the opposite side of the training field as where she left her tank top and hair. That spot was the only part of the clearing now that was giving off a fresh scent of hers and Derek was staring at it.

"Come out Erica, I know you are right there." He said to the spot.

The pack almost looked disappointed that he found her until they saw her, walking quickly and quietly towards Derek's turned back.

He didn't know she was there until she jumped onto his back, she hadn't even shifted into her wolf face until she jumped (thinking his inner wolf would sense her easier if she were shifted).

After she attacked, she tried to wrestle him to the ground, it was a match of strength. He was bigger, she was quicker, they wrestled each other for longer than he fought with his family. He nearly pinned her twice, she nearly pinned him three times (Cora had come to do a three count each time one of them had the other pinned down).

She didn't know how it happened, they were pretty evenly matched, she was beginning to think it would end in a tie…but he was able to pin her a third time but this time she couldn't get out of his hold.

Cora's hand met the grass, "One"

Erica wriggled but couldn't get her shoulder or hips off the ground.

Cora's hand smacked the grass again, "Two."

She had been able to get out of these before but all the defensive and escape maneuvers she had been taught were useless, she didn't think it possible but her vision became a darker red and she growled trying to use her teeth, claws anything to get him to break his hold.

He was unmovable.

"Three." Cora said the final time, "I'm sorry Puppy, Derek wins."

Erica sagged in, letting herself shift back to human, Derek immediately shifted back and she looked into his eyes as the red in both their eyes dimmed.

He got off of her and offered her his hand to help her up, she smacked it away and leaped up onto her feet on her own, and made her way to where she left her tank top.

He followed her, but waited until she had the tank top on again and she was going back to where she left her shoes and socks to speak. "Erica, you did really well. I'm proud of you."

"I lost Derek." She growled, swatting away his hand that was trying to hold hers. "Don't patronize me."

"I'm not… Erica, that was your first time ever doing that exercise, and only your second day of pack training…no one is able to learn that fast…I've been doing this my whole life. Yes, you're and alpha, but you're also a new wolf, you need time."

She growled at that. She was a hormonal, teenaged alpha…logic wasn't really her friend.

"I think that after a few more sessions maybe you can lead with me, you are right, we need to learn to do stuff together…but maybe you need a few more weeks to get used to stuff?" He said as she sat down in the grass to put her shoes back on.

She glared up at him. "One day I will pin you."

"I'm sure you will." He said sincerely.

* * *

Erica was all nerves today; this was the first training session that two of her babies would participate in. Aubrey had been learning for years one on one with her and Derek, and Avery had joined them over the past two years…she and Derek had decided they were both ready.

Erica was thankful that DJ wouldn't be ready for a few years, and Amory wouldn't be able to train with the pack until she was a teenager, like the rest of the non-wolves of the pack. She didn't think she'd be able to handle the day where all five of her children were fighting people at least twice their size and infinitely more powerful and experienced than them, with the distinct possibility that the morning would end in injury.

Andromeda had started the year they adopted the twins after her one on one training was at the level she needed. Erica cried the first afternoon that Andi went to her room after lunch bruised and sore. Children should be playing, not learning from such a young age how to fight for their lives when the time came. But her little girl just smiled and asked her father if he was proud of her.

Now she watched as Aubrey did her best in a spar against Malia, and Avery fought valiantly against Laura, they were doing so well. Erica was proud, but also sad that this was a right of passage for their kind.

Other pack were-wolf children, besides her three eldest were sparing with their uncles and aunts, and she noticed her friends look over at their kids now and then, agonized looks on their daces.

At least she wasn't the only one going through this.

Erica sat out today in a wooden lounge chair cuddling Amory in her lap. The child should really in be in bed, but she refused to miss out on Avery and Aubrey's first day of pack training over a flu. Erica had thought that supernatural children didn't get sick as often as human ones, but was long ago proven wrong. Her children had spent the week passing around this flu, the wolf-children were back to normal after a day or two, but Amory was the last to catch the illness and was taking longer to recover. Erica hated seeing her daughter like this, and did not want leave her side as she suffered.

Today really was a hard day to be a mom and an alpha. Three daughters training with the pack, one sick with the flu that had put some human children in town in the hospital, and one son who was feeling left out. Her pack needed her training, but today the mom in her won out, so she passed her leadership duties for the day to Allison and Cora and curled up in the chair with her youngest daughter, watching every blow that landed on her eldest three daughters, all while trying to figure out an activity that she and DJ could do just the two of them this afternoon while Derek could watch over Amory.

From her spot she could see it all; the wolves (children and adult) sparring, the non-wolf adults practicing, the humans finishing weapons training, and DJ and the other pack children (human, non-wolf and young wolves) at play on the playground. Saturday mornings at  _Wolf's Run_  were about teaching and honing survival skills that were necessary for a pack's survival, but also a time for togetherness.

Erica watched as towards the end of training, Aubrey and Avery had decided that the best way to fight off their opponents was back to back, and as a team. Erica felt pride as her daughters landed blow after blow on their aunts, surging on by the confidence gained having a sister at your back. They didn't win, but their held their own. So Erica did her best not to cringe at the scrapes on her daughters' bodies, not wanting to dampen the happiness in their eyes as Cora called for practice to end and her girls ran over to her.

"Mommy! Did you see us?" Avery asked, plopping down on the grass in front of her chair.

"I did! I'm so proud of both of you."

"Mommy look at Andi!" Amory said, poking her in the side.

When Erica decided to sit out, Derek decided that that meant her could pick their eldest as a sparing partner.

When she looked up she saw her ten-year-old, black curls flying, leaping through the air and kicking her father in the stomach, causing him to collapse in pain. She felt pride coming from her mate-bond next to the pain. Andi had not only got his stomach but kicked a little lower than Derek would have liked… so the pain was genuine. But her child had just attacked a male wolf at least four times her size fair and square so Derek was proud despite the pain.

Various pack members cheered. The three girls near her giggled, and Erica maneuvered her way out of the lounger, while trying not to disturb her sick child.

When Amory was settled, her older sisters watching over her, Erica ran to her husband and eldest.

"Are you okay Derek?"

He looked at her, eyes glowing red. "She did good today."

Andromeda was standing to the side looking guilty. "I'm sorry if I hurt you Daddy! You said to do my best!"

"We're not mad Andi." Erica said, "You did good, this is the closet you've come to winning against an adult. You did great. We are very proud"

Diana ran towards Andi and tackled her. "Great job alpha-heir!

The two girls rolled around in the grass giggling and soon all the pack children under twelve (who could walk) were joining in. The older kids quickly went to break up the puppy pile, knowing that these things tend to get out of hand after training when everyone's inner animal was so close to the surface.

Erica glared at Amory. "Amory Adamma Hale, you are to sick for puppy piles."

"There's no such thing as to sick for puppy piles Mommy." DJ said proudly while tugging Amory out of the pile. "She is right Amry…you could get sicker." Her four-year-old said, making sure his sisters hoddie was zipped tight while her scolded his older sister.

Erica walked over to pick up Amory, kissing DJ before doing so, "You're a good little brother Julian."

Her son beamed up at her, "Thank you Mommy. Is Daddy going to be okay?"

"He's going to be fine mini-Derek." Laura said while helping her little brother up, "Der-Bear will be good as new soon, getting hit in the boy-bits hurts."

Her son looked sympathetically at his father. "Poor Daddy…"

"Does this mean no stealth exercise? Mrs. SourWolf is tending to a sick child, and Mr. SourWolf has a boo-boo." Stiles asked.

"We are doing the exercise." Erica said, "Derek and I always do the stealth exercise, he's fine."

Melissa stepped forward and took Amory from Erica. "I'll watch her." She said encouragingly.

Derek finally stood and nodded. At that signal, all the wolves who had been training ran for the woods. Erica watched Andi take Aubrey and Avery's hands before Erica and Derek turned their back to the woods.

The rest of the pack began to gather on the picnic tables, benches and chairs that were set up behind the playground, pool house and garage. The children stopped playing on the playground and gathered around the non-wolf adults to watch the exercise.

"Okay, you all know the rules," Derek said loudly so even the pack members without enhanced hearing could hear him. They had started reciting the rules of the exercise ever since Raul, the first child to join in on the group training, started participating in stealth exercise ten years ago. "If you are older than eighteen, and Erica or I pin you for more that three seconds you are eliminated. If you pin one of us...well lets not even set up a prize…its never happened."

" _Not since Puppy whooped your ass when she was eighteen."_ Isaac snickered from the west.

" _Papa, you said you wouldn't give us away this time_." Micah groaned.

Erica wanted to laugh, Isaac always gave away the location he and his children were approaching from, to try to fool her and Derek into thinking that they were actually approaching from there, he also had one of his kids pretend to be angry at giving the location away to make it sound sincere.

"If you are younger than eighteen, and Derek and I are able to tickle you for more than three seconds, then you are eliminated. If you tickle one of us, you get out of pack chores for a week, we make no promises about chores in your own houses." Erica said, finishing the rules, and she and Derek shifted.

" _My Daddy says if I win, I don't have to do chores at home for a month."_  Came Diana's voice, and Erica couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

"How is a nine-year-old able to throw her voice?" Erica asked her husband.

" _Dad taught her and Andi_." Came Diego's voice, " _He thinks everyone should know how_."

Erica shrugged her shoulders when Derek gave her an irritated look. Peter had taught the whole pack after the fire, not wanting to run the risk of such a rare skill of wolves being lost if the pack was attacked again and he died. It only figured he would start teaching the next generation once they were old enough.

Derek ignored the information, "Sarah and Marin will be counting out loud this week. Sarah has promised not to count slower when it is her husband, sons, or step daughter this time." He finished taking the time to glare at his aunt.

Sarah did tend to count extra slow when her husband, sons or step-daughter were being pinned ever since Raul and Diego could be pinned, to give them more time to get out of their alpha's hold. It didn't really matter in the end, and neither Erica or Derek really were irritated with Sarah for it, it was just a reminder not to do it today.

She grabbed Derek's hand and the roared together, telling their betas " _GO"_.

They moved in tandem, like they always did, pinning the older wolves, and tickling the younger ones, eliminating betas one by one until the only ones left unaccounted for were their three eldest children.

Derek looked at her and raised his eyebrow. "This feels familiar."

"Aubrey and Avery think like me." Erica said proudly as she noticed her daughters' scents coming from all directions.

In Andi's first exercise she opted to use Laura as a way to conceal her scent, and she attacked brutally once Laura was eliminated, surprising Derek and Erica as they had not been expecting her. Aubrey and Avery had done the nearly the same thing she did in her first stealth exercise, and dragged their sister into it.

"They are playing on your worry for them being in training and you are proud?" Derek asked skeptically.

"You are too." She pointed out before tilting her head to her right, silently telling him where the attack was coming from.

Tiny growls sounded as the girls leaped at them from three different directions. Erica was able to tickle Avery, and Derek was able to tickle Aubrey but that left an opening for Andromeda to tackle Erica once she let go of Avery and tickle her.

"I win Mom." Andi said, proud smile on her face.

"Yes, you did baby girl." Erica said "And you two," she said, addressing her other girls, "great plan."

"I know it was Mommy, I read your diary and tweaked the plan a bit." Aubrey said, "I have a question, what is arousal?"

The pack descended into laughter as wolves relayed the interaction with those who hadn't heard it.

Erica looked at her husband horrified.

"Don't look at me, I told you to hide your journals better." Was his helpful response.

* * *

Andromeda didn't notice him until after Cora and Malia took away the body, and followed Laura out of the clearing.

"Daddy! My eyes! They're different…"

Derek Hale looked to his crying daughter, leaning against the Great Tree, covered in her first love's blood, her glowing blue eyes staring up at him looking for guidance.

He didn't have anything original to say, all he could think of was what his mother said to him when his eyes changed^. He remembered not wanting to open his eyes, not wanting his mother to see what he had become and be ashamed that her son was a killer. But her words comforted him in that moment, when he felt like he could never be whole again.

So he knelt in front of his eldest child and said the only thing he could say. "Different, but still beautiful; just like the rest of you, Andromeda."

She launched herself into his arms and wept. "I wish I can take it back Daddy. It hurts so much."

Derek wished he could take this pain away, wished he could have prepared her for it better. There was little training to prepare one for the horrible feeling that taking a life brought, and to take an innocent life, of someone you loved…there was even less he could have done. His little girl shouldn't have gone through this! This was wrong! And all he could do was comfort his child while his wife and her lieutenants disposed of the rouge alpha that caused this mess (and made her small pack leave) and his sisters informed the family of his daughter's girlfriend about the events of the last two hours.

The Ross family had lost their child completely; he still had his daughter, and for that he was grateful. That alpha could have killed Andi had Lexine not jumped in her path, taking the initial bite and giving Andi the chance to howl for help, he would be the one dealing with the loss of his eldest daughter this evening, not the Ross family. He didn't know what he would say to them when he saw them, and he felt horrible for their loss, for Andi's loss, but he was so glad Andi was alive.

The alpha had smelt his daughter was a Hale, had ambushed he and her girlfriend. Andi hadn't seen it coming, but once she saw the woman she howled for help and fought her off. When he and Erica arrived with their lieutenants, it was too late to save their daughter's first love; she was already rejecting the bite and dying.

Andi took her dying girlfriend to The Great Tree. Derek arrived too late, Andi had already ended Lexine's suffering and was yelling at The Great Tree and at Mother Moon for not saving her by the time he, his sisters and Malia arrived.

" _After all my family has sacrificed, you couldn't do this one thing for me, you couldn't let her live?"_

His heart hurt for his daughter, he understood her pain, but this wasn't Mother Moon's fault, and this wasn't for The Great Tree to fix. Andi would understand that one day, but today wasn't for rationality it was for grieving.

The alpha in him worried about the consequences of a human child dying on the packs watch, about what would happen if word got out that the alpha heir had killed her human girlfriend. Would the town turn against the pack again? Would they call in The Argents? Would they demand that Erica, as candidate for county Sheriff arrest her own child for murder?

But the sound of his daughter's tears brought him back to their horrible reality, this was not the time for politics and strategy; it was time to be a father. His sisters', cousin, his mate's Second and Third and the pack Elders would handle all the politics, they would inform the Ross family and the town of what happen, they would decide what to do if the town reacted badly. His and Erica's job right now was to be parents.

His wife came running to the clearing. Her eyes gleaming red and her clothes covered in the blood of the alpha.

"She's not dead," Erica said looking at him, "She will stand trial in front of The Council. We need her alive to protect Andi."

"Mommy, you don't need to protect me, I deserve to die."

Erica growled and sat down on the opposite side of Andi as he was. "Andromeda Lyn, never say that again. I know taking a life feels horrible, I can imagine how worse it is when it is someone you love, but she was suffering baby…" Erica said kissing their daughter's forehead. "Lexine didn't deserve to suffer like that."

They sat in silent for a moment, before Erica spoke again, "You know, when I met your Aunt Rose, I ended up telling her about your Dad's first love. She said that sacrificing your own innocence so another would not suffer, is very noble. I know it doesn't feel like it Andi, but you did the right thing."

"It hurts baby, I know" Derek added, "But we are here for you, you are not alone."

His eldest daughter held on to him and his wife tightly, as if afraid to let go. She cried until she had exhausted herself, and fell asleep on his shoulder.

Once Andi was asleep, Erica looked at him, and he noticed she was crying too. "Are you okay?" She said her hand coming up to his face, using her sleeve to wipe away his tears.

"No, I can't believe its happening again."

"Derek, she is not you. She has us, we're not going to let anyone else hurt her. We will help her heal."

Derek wanted to believe her, but didn't really. History had the nasty habit of repeating itself, and no matter how much he desperately wanted all the bad that had happened to him and his ancestors to stay far away from all of his children, some had already. Kate had come back years ago scarring him and his family, his twins spent their first few years of life captives of a horrid man, and now Andi had taken the life of her first love. He didn't want to know what else fate had in store for the next generation of Hale wolves.

He picked up his daughter, and he and his wife walked home in silence.

* * *

A mop of blonde hair looked up at him with a grin

"I'm okay Grandpa. Let's try again." His granddaughter, Nadine Lexa Hale told him.

"Lexa, I think you have had enough training for the day." He said smiling, the child was only five, she didn't need to train so much.

Derek enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren, his grandson was still an infant, so his son and daughter-in-law rarely let the boy from their arms (he remembered those days all too well). But as much as Andromeda tried to never let Nadine out of her sight, the child always found her way to her grandparents.

"Fine." The girl sighed holding her arms in the air so she could be picked up. "Then let's find Mommy."

He obliged her before answering.

"Your mommy is at the company still." He informed the girl.

"Isn't it your company Grandpa? Should you be there?"

"I'm taking some time off, your Mommy, Aunt Avery, and Aunt Diana, wanted to see if they could handle the business on their own this week. So Me, Aunt Cora, and Uncle Peter have some time off."

"That's right. I remember now!" the little girl said, climbing up onto his shoulders. "Aunt Amory said that you are all so old that you need to rest."

Derek laughed. He was certainly not as young as he once was, but he was not old by any means. Were-wolves aged gracefully, and he only had a little bit of grey hair (something his youngest daughter liked to tease him for).

He was glad that wolves aged so slowly because if he were human he wouldn't be able to keep up with, let alone train, his little hellion of a granddaughter. His own paternal grandparents had lived to be in their nineties, and were formidable wolves until the day they passed in their sleep. A peaceful death that their kind rarely enjoyed.

The oldest in the pack were John, Mel, Sarah and Peter, who were all in their early seventies, which was long-lived for a member of The Hale Pack going by the last few generations of his family.

He couldn't believe Andromeda was a twenty-six-year-old mother, working on her master's degree. It seemed like only yesterday he an Erica were getting married and they found out Erica was pregnant with Andi. Now they had five kids and two grandkids…where had the time gone?

It was his fault, he blinked. He blinked and life passed by so quickly.

"Grandpa, why do most people have two parents and I just have my mommy?" his granddaughter asked when they got inside the den.

How does one explain drunken one night stands to a five-year-old? How does one explain mates to one?

"Sometimes kids have one mommy or one daddy, sometimes they have one of each, sometimes they have two mommies or two daddies."

"And sometimes they have more than two mommies and daddies like Aunt Missy and Uncle Micah?"

"Right!" Derek said, his granddaughter was so smart. "It's just the way Mother Moon works, sometimes those family structures change too, maybe one day you'll get another mommy or maybe a daddy, but for now you have your Mommy, Me, and Grandma taking care of you."

"And many many Uncles and Aunties!" Nadine said, "I was just wondering, this boy at school said it was because Mommy has evil blue eyes that I don't have another mommy or daddy."

Until that moment Derek had forgotten that Nadine was going to school with with the child of Lexine Ross' older sister. The family was the only one in town that hated the Hale Pack and blamed Andi for Lexine's fate. Derek never really wanted to say anything to them, understanding they needed to blame someone in their grief after the Alpha was sent to prison in Eichen and hung herself. But, to harass his grandchild for something that wasn't her fault, and make her feel like her mother was someone bad for having blue wolf eyes was wrong.

"Lexa, you now that your mommy's wolf eyes do not mean that she is evil, right?" He asked as he walked the two of them into the living room.

The little girl nodded and jumped from his arms onto the couch, giggling as she bounced. "I know Grandpa. Lots of people have blue eyes in the pack, it doesn't mean they are evil. Grandma said it means 'they have experienced pain the rest of us can't understand' and I'd know what that means one day… Mommy said you used to have them before you were alpha…"

"I did." He said, sitting on the couch opposite his granddaughter, taking out a board game form under the coffee table.

"We are Hale-wolves Grandpa. We protect others, we are good, I know Mommy isn't evil, I know nobody in this pack is, the boy just hurt my feelings."

Derek nodded, "Did you tell the teacher so you don't have to be near him?"

"She's a were-cat Grandpa, she heard." Nadine said before looking at the game he pulled out and grinning, "Grandpa this is my favorite game!"

"It's your favorite because you always win." Derek said grinning back, "You are much like your Mother and Grandmother, they like winning more than you do."

"Did you ever think that we always win because you are bad at games and we are awesome?" Nadine said clapping her hands together, "I get to be blue!"

With that the previous conversation ended and Derek settled in for an afternoon of of his granddaughter beating him in Candyland.

* * *

Andromeda looked at her pack, they were all grieving still. It had been a month and it still was unbelievable. They had lost so many loved ones in their latest battle, and she knew her pack would never be the same.

She looked to where her child was seated, sitting on the swing set looking at the patio door to the den, as if waiting for one of her grandparents to come out and push her before training began, like they always did.

Nadine still refused to sleep alone, and was sleeping in her room. Andromeda still hadn't been able to go into her parents' room and move her things in. Even though the master bedroom was the alpha's room she couldn't do it. It would always be her parents room. Maybe one day, when it didn't hurt so much, she'd be able to move her stuff in and their stuff into storage (or distribute in between her siblings) but for now she and her daughter were camped out in her bedroom…

The room she occupied since birth, right next door to her parents' room…

Right next door to the room that housed the bed her father died in.

Andi shook off the thought, trying to forget that horrible day. The day they buried her mother (and the other pack members that perished) and her father was too ill to attend the funerals. The day that they all gathered around his bed and he passed in his sleep, his children and grandchildren begging him not to go.

' _You'll be okay. All of you will be fine. I love you all. Andromeda, you're ready…you can do this.'_  Were his last words, they were better than her mother's last words but they still sucked.

Her father was wrong, she had no business being alpha. She was not ready.

But then again, who was ever ready to lose a loved one and ascend to alpha? No one. Not one sane werewolf wanted the power knowing that someone they loved had to die to give it to them.

" _We're so proud of you Andromeda. We love you."_

She turned her head quickly to the voice, but it seemed that no one but her had heard it. Those words on the wind. They sounded like her parents taking to her.

She wasn't ready to do this, but she could do this. Her parents had spent their whole lives teaching their children how to lead, knowing one of them would be alpha. Andi got the most training and tutoring, but all her siblings and Hale cousins received similar training. They all could do this they were prepared. She wasn't alone, she had her siblings and cousins, aunts and uncles to give their counsel when they needed it.

Perhaps her father was right after all.

She was the alpha. She came from a long line of great alphas. She was Andromeda Lyn Hale. She was Erica and Derek Hale's daughter, she could stand tall and lead her family, her pack, through this time of grief.

As a leader she knew they needed to train and get used to this new dynamic, and new pack hierarchy, but as the niece, sister, cousin, friend, aunt and mother to these people, she knew they still needed time to grieve. This wasn't the time to train. Not yet.

It was too soon.

"Let's try again next week everyone. We're not ready. Movie night?"

Her Aunt Laura grinned at her from her wheelchair and gave her a sad thumbs up. "Good call, little turd."

"That's going to be a thing now?"

"You betcha!" she said with a fist-pump. "Son! Magic me back into the house! We're rich! You'd think we can afford one of those hovering wheelchairs!"

Alan rolled his eyes affectionately and help Aunt Laura get in the door with some druid-magic, as everyone else sent Andi a relived look before going to their homes to get ready for movie night in the den.

"I'll get the popcorn ready! See you all in an hour!" She yelled to her retreating pack.

Nadine ran towards Andi, and leaped. Andi caught her daughter, and wrapped her in her arms.

Nadine buried her face in Andi's neck and sighed. "Mommy?"

"Yes baby?"

"I miss them very much."

"Me too honey." Andi said, making her way to the den. Andi and Nadine lived in the den alone now that her parents were gone. Aubrey, Avery and Amory had made noises in the last few weeks about moving out of the house they lived in together and into the den, and Andi was grateful. It was too much house for just two people, too quiet, too many memories to deal with alone.

"Mommy?" Nadine said after a moment of quiet.

"Yes baby? Andi responded, finally making it in the house.

"I'm sorry your mommy and daddy are not here to hold you and make you feel better like you are doing for me."

Andi's heart clenched, "It's not your fault baby."

"I know, but I'm still sorry. I don't know what I'd do without you Mommy. You must be loads sadder than I am."

Andromeda never really thought about what it would mean for Nadine when she died until now. One day she would be gone, Nadine would be in charge and she would be feeling the exact same way Andi was feeling now. She wanted to protect her baby girl from this pain.

She couldn't though, but she could prepare her child as well as her parents had prepared her. It wouldn't ease the pain, but it would give her daughter the tools she needed to be a good leader.

Andi hoped that Mother Moon would not take her from Nadine for a long time. She knew that it wouldn't do to pray not to die until she was old and gray…her parents were the anomaly getting to spend almost three decades as parents before death. Her maternal grandparents' only got eighteen years with her mother, her paternal grandparents got much less with her father…

She just wanted time to be a good parent and a good alpha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FootNotes:
> 
> ^Reference to the Derek and Talia Hale scene in Teen Wolf, season 3, episode 8 "Visionary"
> 
> D:I did something. Something terrible.
> 
> T:I know.
> 
> D: My eyes. They're different.
> 
> T: Different, but still beautiful; just like the rest of you.


	9. My Name Is Derek Hale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A glimpse at the lives of four generations of Hale men.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This has been sitting on my computer for awhile. I hope you enjoy it. I’m going to try to start posting consistently again, but the past few years have been crazy busy so no promises.

 

**Life and Times of a She-Wolf**

**The Wolves of Beacon Hills**

**My Name is Derek Hale**

 

* * *

My name is Derek Hale. I am son of Salvador and Marcella Diaz, of The Diaz Pack of Mexico.

 

I met my mate when she came to visit my pack last year and fell hard for her. She was the Alpha’s daughter and I was my alpha’s nephew. I was bewitched by Talia from the moment we met felt the pull that Mama always described when she tells the tale of how she met Papa. I knew that Mother Moon created us for one another. I never wanted to leave her side, she was my personal sun, moon and stars and I would move mountains to stay with her.

 

When she asked me to come home with her, I couldn’t refuse. I felt horrible leaving my family and all I knew behind, but Mama and Papa understood why I had to follow Talia. The rest of my family understood too; ours wasn’t a star-crossed union like Romeo and Juliet, it was actually a union encouraged by our alphas, one that would strengthen the bonds between our packs. Talia and I did not care for politics at that time; we only cared about being together.

 

We were married after a week of meeting in my family’s Den. I took her family name, not as a slight to my Diaz family, but to build unity with my new pack. One day I would be the alpha-mate and I wanted them to trust me, trust that I would never betray my new family.

 

After our wedding I packed my things and prepared to leave Mexico and my family behind, it was a bittersweet experience; on one hand I was glad to start my life with my wife, on the other I was leaving my childhood behind, my family. I was excited to get to know my new wife and her family, ready to call them all my own. But even then, I wasn’t prepared to forget the pack that raised me.

 

The Diaz pack took me in when I was an infant left on their doorstep, a note pinned to me by the hunters that killed my birth family that they do not kill children. Mama and Papa took me in and raised me as their own. There was never a day in my life that I was treated as less for being adopted, I was treated the same as my cousins were. We were all loved and cared for… I will miss my family but I am a man now, and I am in love.

 

I will build a future with my mate, we will protect one another and our pack until death do us part. And hopefully, one day we will have children of our own.

 

Talia and I will live long lives, we will live happily ever after. I can feel it.

 

* * *

 

 

My name is Derek Diaz Hale; husband and mate of Talia Hale, and father to Laura, Derek and…Cora Hale.

 

I never got to meet little Cora. I witnessed her birth, while watching from the in-between, but she will never know how much I love her. At least when my Derek grows he will have vague memories of me, and sweet Laura got to know me for eleven years. But Cora…what will she have?

 

I know the children are the reason Talia has held on this long. I see her fall asleep each night in tears, feeling the loss of our mate bond, our love, the future we had planned...but she holds on because she refuses to let our children grow without at least one parent to guide them. Someone has to teach them how to be good wolves.

 

I wanted to be there to help her teach them. But Argents took me from my mate and children, just like they took my biological parents from me. I’m so angry, and sad…I refuse to move onto the afterlife. I must watch over my family as much as I possibly can.

 

* * *

  

My name is Derek Hale. I live with my sisters in New York City, far away from my family’s ancestral home, and all the loss it brought.

 

It’s more accurate to say the loss Kate Argent brought. It took me many years of therapy to realize that the death of nearly my whole pack, was not my fault, it was hers. I was raped and abused by that monster because she wanted to have the ability to destroy my family.

 

I’m in college now, doing my best to make my family proud when check in on me from their life in the Afterlife. I’m trying to get my business degree, so I can take over at Hale Holdings for Laura…it’s a job she despises and one I have a knack for, so I’m going for it. She called me a little turd when I told her why I chose my major, but I could tell it pleased her, teaching was what Laurie was best at…she deserves to follow her dreams especially since she dropped every last one of hers to look after Core and I.

 

I am a Hale. And when Core and I finish school, Laura will take us back home to Beacon Hills and the three of us will rebuild The Hale Pack and continue the family tradition of protecting the town from those that mean it harm. It’s a duty I despised after Paige died, and nearly turned my back on after what Kate did…but I am healing from that hurt and looking forward to building a wonderful future with my sisters.

 

* * *

 

 

My name is Derek Salvador Hale… son of Talia and Derek; father of Andromeda, Aubrey, Avery, Amory, and Derek; grandfather of Nadine and Derek; brother, nephew, uncle, friend, and alpha to many… and I am lost without my mate.

 

Erica and to many others perished in an unexpected war with a rival pack. A pack that wanted me to force Aubrey to marry one of their sons, to seal an alliance in a powerful grandchild…something I wouldn’t be inclined to do if I liked the pack in question, if they were an ally.

 

The Perez Pack was not much better than The Thorne Pack…and they only took it as more of a slight when they saw that Rosalyn was among our ranks. They said if I did not give them a woman to breed with that would produce a child that could shift into a full wolf they would consider that an act of war. My wife responded that it was an act of war itself to come onto our land and demand a child from our pack to forcefully breed with. I agreed with her.

 

Erica’s alpha-hood ended much how it began, protecting of our pack from a pack with outdated notions of a female wolf’s place in the world. Only this time not only did many of us die, and we were unable to resurrect them, but Erica died as well.

 

It had happened in the middle of the fight, she hadn’t been the first from our side to fall but she had been distracted pulling the Perez heir off of Aubrey and killing him, that she hadn’t seen his mother and sisters lunge toward her. I had been too caught up in my own fight with Perez Sr. to see it happen, but I felt the moment Erica died…not only did our mate-bond and pack-mate link snap, but the power that she received when I died the first time returned to me because her killer had been an alpha’s mate, and they weren’t always able to receive alpha power’s from killing an alpha, because in many ways they already were alphas.

 

I kept fighting when I felt her loss, our children were still in danger, and I had to keep going. My wolf children made quick work of the Perez brats and their mother in retaliation, and my druid child floated her mother’s body off the battlefield to safety so no Perezes harmed her corpse.

 

But now the battle was over and I felt it the loss all over again, I had for a few days. Her loss was felt next to the loss of so many of my beloved pack-mates and I could not bring myself to get out of bed. It was as if the last of my strength left the moment I killed the Perez Sr. I collapsed in that moment, knowing the biggest threat to my pack was finally eliminated and the remaining pack members could dispatch the final few Perezes. My son and nephews had to carry me into the den and into my bed.

 

I couldn’t bear it any longer. Andromeda was ready, she had a good support system to help her…Aubrey, Avery, Amory and DJ were grown and able to take care of themselves and help their sister, my inner wolf didn’t want to live on this earth another day without his mate…and neither did I.

 

I held my grandchildren one last time, kissed each of my children, said my goodbyes to my remaining pack members…and passed in my sleep a few nights after the battle my children and grandchildren sitting on the bed with me, my friends and pack mates in the room with me.

 

Laura had rolled up to the bed (she had been gravely injured but survived) next to me and ordered me to say hi to Mom, Dad, Cora, Peter and everyone else we had lost. “ _I’ll take care of everyone here you little turd, you watch over the ones that didn’t make it through the battle okay?”_

My children then realized what most the rest of the room had already figured out…I couldn’t hold on any longer. They pleaded for me to stay.

 

“You’ll be okay, all of you will be fine. I love you all.” I told them before I closed my eyes for the last time, “Andromeda, You’re ready. You can do this.”

 

Erica was waiting for me in the in-between, waiting to take me to the afterlife.

 

“They’ll be okay Derek. They’re going to be okay for a long time.”

 

I smiled at the love of my life, seeing the plan written for my pack. And she was right, the next deaths would be of old age… our children would know great loves and live long happy lives… The Hale Pack would not be tested this horrifically again for many years, and Nadine would lead them through that struggle.

 

“I missed you Erica.”

 

“Me too Der. But we never have to part again, I promise.”

 

My name is Derek Salvador Hale and I’m now at peace.

 

* * *

 

 

My name is Derek Hale. I am eighteen years old. I have four older sisters that tease me relentlessly and many, many cousins.

 

My parents are the alphas of The Beacon County Wolf Pack, and they handle being alpha’s effortlessly…it almost seems to me like they were born for it and have never struggled to find their place. My sisters are all exceptionally powerful and strong (three of them are wolves and one is a druid) and they all have an idea of what they want. I’ve always felt a little useless in comparison.

 

Andi is the alpha-heir, Aubrey has made is clear that she will be Andi’s second, Amory has made it known that she wants to be the packs next emissary, and Avery is a fierce warrior and has made it known if she can’t be Andi’s Third she will still be a great warrior for the pack. What place is there for me in The Hale Pack of the future, next to all my cousins and pack-mates I feel completely unexceptional.

 

Will my parents be disappointed if their son turns out to be ordinary after experiencing four levelheaded, intelligent, fierce daughters?

 

They were pretty irritated with me ever since I turned thirteen; it wasn’t my fault that was when my wolf recognized that Deputy King’s daughter would be my mate. Yeah, I get the ick factor since she was ten at the time…but I made it clear that my wolf wasn’t insistent on it…he was just saying that someday we would be meant for one another.

 

I was eighteen now, my mate would be a child for another few years (even though she told me that she thought we were mates too) and I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life except protect people.

 

“So you join the army? What the hell DJ!” Eloise said throwing her math textbook at my head.

 

“Excuse me... my son did what?” my mom said stepping into the kitchen.

 

“He feels like he has no clue what he wants to do and if he stays in Beacon Hills he’ll buckle under the pressure of living up to his perfect sisters and parents. Your son is a doofus Sheriff.”

 

“Don’t try to psychoanalyze me Eloise.”

 

“Well then you try to explain it to me.” Mom said.

 

“I need to do this, I love Beacon Hills, I love the pack, but I feel like I’m meant to do something more Mom…I don’t know for sure if this is what I need to do but I need to try.”

* * *

 

 

My name is Derek Julian Hale, and I love my life.

 

After six years in the army, I came home to Beacon Hills, joined the sheriff’s department and finally started to date my best friend and mate Eloise King. I married her after three months of officially dating, but when you consider that we’ve known each other since we were kids, and have been slowly falling in love since we were teenagers…well when we finally spoke in person as adults, we didn’t see the point in waiting any longer.

 

Six years away from Beacon Hills taught me a lot about who I am. I needed some distance to realize that all the pressure to be as powerful as my sisters and parents was only imposed by myself. It was misplaced; I was only ever expected to be the best wolf I could be. Some people have to go half a world away to sort themselves out, but once I was sure I had I came back to help my family protect Beacon Hills.

 

I kissed my wife and our son as I heard the footsteps thudding up the stairs to enter the infirmary. All four of my sisters tackled me immediately in congratulations, and my niece joined in on the fun.

 

Dad started pulling Nadine and my sisters off me after a few moments to congratulate me himself; and we watched as Eloise handed our son to Mom.

 

“Have you named him?” Mom asked.

 

“We named him after Dad.” I said and Dad tightened his grip on me.

 

“My Dad too, you keep forgetting that.” Eloise said.

 

“Yeah but I won, so my Dad’s name is first.”

 

Mom and Eloise rolled their eyes.

 

“Erica, unhand Derek William now! It’s my turn!” Dad demanded.

 

I didn’t even mind when my sister’s, and niece tackled me again, and when mom joined their “puppy pile”.

 

My name is Derek Hale and this was one of the happiest days of my life.

* * *

 

My name is Derek William Hale.

 

People go on and on about the exceptional women my family has produced. And it’s true; there have been some awesome women in my family. But the males of my bloodline have been pretty awesome as well.

 

I don’t feel any pressure to live up to anyone’s expectations. I’m going to do my best to be the best man I can be.

 

I’m a Hale, which means I’m a protector…and if I don’t stray to far from that path I will be just fine.

 

My name is Derek Hale and I’m determined to be just fine...

 

 

*


End file.
